UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


AN  APPROACH  TO  THE  SYNTHETIC 

STUDY  OF  INTEREST  IN 

EDUCATION 


BY 

DOUGLAS  WAPLES 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED  TO   THE   FACULTY  OP  THE    GRADUATE   SCHOOL   IN 

PARTIAL   FULFILLMENT   OF  THE    REQUIREMENTS  FOR 

THE   DEGREE   OF  DOCTOR  OF  PHILOSOPHY 


REPRINTED  FROM 

THE  JOURNAL  OP  EDUCATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGY 

WARWICK  &  YORK,  PUBLISHER 

BALTO.,  MD. 

1921 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA 


AN  APPROACH  TO  THE  SYNTHETIC 

STUDY  OF  INTEREST  IN 

EDUCATION 


BY 

DOUGLAS  WAPLES 


A  THESIS 

PRESENTED   TO   THE   FACULTY  OF  THE    GRADUATE    SCHOOL  IN 
PARTIAL   FULFILLMENT   OF   THE    REQUIREMENTS   FOR 
THE   DEGREE   OF  DOCTOR  OF   PHILOSOPHY     . 


\ 


REPRINTED  FROM 

THE  JOURNAL  OF  EDUCATIONAL  PSYCHOLOGY 

WARWICK  &  YORK,  PUBLISHER 

BALTO..  MD. 

1921 


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AN  APPROACH  TO  THE  SYNTHETIC  STUDY 
OF  INTEREST  IN  EDUCATION:  PART  I 

DOUGLAS  WAPLES 

Tufte  College 
Chapter  One.    Introductory 

The  difficulty  encountered  in  the  attempt  to  isolate  any  educa- 
tional topic  for  discussion  has  been  reassuringly  defined  by  Professor 
Dewey:  "The  issues  are  so  interdependent  that  any  one  of  them  can 
be  selected  only  at  the  risk  of  ignoring  important  considerations,  or 
else  of  begging  the  question  by  bringing  in  the  very  problem  under 
discussion  in  the  guise  of  some  other  subject.  Yet  limits  of  time 
and  space  require  that  some  one  field  be  entered  and  occupied  by 
itself.  .  .  .  The  difficulty  is  particularly  great  in  the  discussion  of 
interest."  Such  being  the  case,  it  is  necessary  either  to  establish  the 
most  generally  accepted  limits  of  the  field,  or  else  to  fix  the  bounds 
arbitrarily.  To  this  end  will  be  considered  (1)  the  present  occasion  for 
investigation  of  the  topic,  (2)  its  aim,  (3)  the  nature  and  range  of 
previous  investigations  and  sources,  (4)  the  method  of  procedure, 
(5)  the  scope  and  definition  of  terms,  and  (6)  the  problems  excluded 
from  the  discussion. 

1.  Appropriateness  of  the  Topic. — Academic  study  of  educational 
controls  is  probably  more  extensive  at  present  than  ever  before  in 
America,  and  attention  to  the  by-products  and  methods  of  other 
sciences  has  done  much  to  widen  the  approach,  yet  a  comparison  of  the 
means  employed  to  solve  moot-points  of  theory  in  the  United  States 
with  those  of  England,  for  example,  will  probably  show  the  former  to 
be  more  largely  quantitative.  This  applies  with  equal  force  to  prob- 
lems of  administrationTsupervision,  and  teaching.  The  quantitative 
approach  is  thoroughly  justified  by  its  results,  by  the  necessity  of 
dealing  with  large  numbers,  of  substituting  fact  for  opinion,  and  by 
many  other  arguments  no  less  conclusive.     Yet  however  justified  by 

l 


' 


2  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

results  and  prospects,  the  claims  of  the  quantitative  approach  cannot 
be  fully  vindicated  without  the  intervention  of  the  devil's  advocate, 
and  it  is  this  function  that  the  present  article  seeks  to  fulfill.  It  is 
largely  in  the  replies  to  the  quo_  bono?  that  the  value  of  real  dis- 
covery becomes  evident.  It  is  then  reasonable  to  expect  some  assist- 
ance toward  further  experiment  from  the  analysis  of  inferential 
opinion  regarding  interest.  Some  corollaries  of  this  assumption 
may  be  very  generally  stated. 

(a)  More  concretely,  there  is  need  for  some  study — other  than 
the  single  chapter  of  the  standard  text-books — to  consider  the  con- 
tributions of  the  early  child-study  movement  to  the  problems  of 
interest  from  the  standpoint  of  descriptive  psychology.  While 
these  studies  have  doubtless  been  wisely  evaluated  and  to  some  ex- 
tent applied,  further  research  should  be  stimulated  by  knowledge 
of  the  extent  to  which  they  confirm  or  invalidate  empirical  hypotheses. 

(6)  The  hiatus  which  existed  formerly  between  pedagogical  studies 
of  interest  in  the  classroom,  in  particular  studies,  etc.,  and  the  purely 
speculative  and  philosophical  descriptions  of  so-called  social  interests, 
"springs  of  action,' '  etc.,  has  within  recent  years  been  filled  by  the 
writings  of  the  "  Behaviorist "  school.  The  influence  of  genetic 
psychology  upon  class  instruction  and  courses  of  study  has  been  largely 
stimulated  thereby  and  has  combined  with  the  measurement  move- 
ment to  provide  more  adequate  curricula  and  more  effective  methods 
both  of  teaching  and  administration.  There  have  been  few  attempts 
to  separate  out  and  analyze  the  principles  governing  the  growth  of 
individual  interest  from  the  more  general  studies  of  individual  differ- 
ences in  connection  with  normal  group  distribution.  Such  analysis 
should  thus  contribute  to  the  effectiveness  of  the  vocational  guidance, 
problem-project,  supervised  study,  and  similar  movements. 

(c)  The  application  of  the  psychology  of  psycho-analytic  treat- 
I  ment  of  neurotics  to  normal  individuals  and  to  the  principles  of 
education  generally  is  very  rapidly  winning  the  sanction  of  respon- 
sible writers  on  education.  While  the  dangers  attending  direct 
application  of  the  methods  are  at  present  prohibitive,  there  is  reason 
to  suppose  that  methods  of  instruction  may  profit  by  further  studies 
of  the  unconscious.  War-time  analyses  of  normal  individuals  suf- 
fering from  shell-shock  have  done  much  to  eliminate  the  emphasis 
upon  sex  and  to  extend  the  field  of  application.1  Of  note  in  this 
connection  is  the  bearing  of  such  studies  upon  the  problems  of  re- 

1  cf.  Dr.  Southard's  article:  Mental  Hygiene.    Hygiene,  Jan.,  1920. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  3 

pression  of  interest,  the  diagnosis  of  repressed  interest,  the  general 
factor  of  interest,  et  al.  Discussion  of  this  evidence  as  applied  to 
education  has  not,  to  the  best  of  the  writer's  knowledge,  been  related 
to  other  data  available. 

(d)  There  is  noticeable  in  the  current  discussions  of  the  theory 
of  interest  a  very  natural  prejudice  against  the  "doctrine  of  inter- 
est." One  evident  effect  of  this  prejudice  in  the  United  States  is 
to  restrict  the  discussion.  Stated  in  very  general  terms,  there  is 
a  tendency  on  the  part  of  most  writers  to  mediate  between  the  two 
evils  of  "soft-pedagogy"  and  formal  discipline,  and  to  leave  it  to 
the  quantitative  estimate  of  results  and  the  teacher's  good  sense  to 
strike  a  happy  compromise.  While  the  remedy  lies  rather  in  evolution 
than  research,  it  would  seem  advisable  that  the  cause  of  such  preju- 
dice be  analyzed,  if  other  than  the  over-enthusiasm  and  dogmatism 
of  certain  Herbartians  and  Frobelians. 

(e)  Finally,  it  will  suffice  to  mention  the  most  inclusive  justifi- 
cation for  a  study  of  this  kind:  namely,  the  importance  of  proper 
diagnosis  of  the  pupils'  interest  as  compared  with  other  factors  of 
the  educative  process.  From  the  standpoint  of  secondary  education 
the  following  remark  of  Inglis  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  con- 
sensus of  responsible  opinion:  "It  is  probably  no  exaggeration  to 
say  that  the  adaptation  of  secondary  education  on  the  one  hand  to 
meet  the  needs  of  different  capacities,  interests,  and  probable  futures 
among  pupils,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  meet  the  differentiated 
needs  of  society,  is  the  most  important  problem  of  secondary  educa- 
tion at  the  present  time."1 

(/)  In  summary  it  may  be  observed  that  an  investigation  of  in- 
terest may  profitably  be  undertaken  for  the  purpose  of  gathering 
together  the  results  of  studies  made  from  many  different  points  of 
approach.  Upon  such  data  it  should  be  possible  to  form  a  more 
comprehensive  and  applicable  notion  of  interest  than  that  obtained 
either  from  general  experience,  from  educational  and  philosophical 
theory,  from  descriptive  and  analytical  psychology,  or  from  attempts 
at  quantitative  measurement  alone.  Such  a  notion  should  contribute 
something  to  the  existing  theory  and  application  of  methods — if 
only  the  incentive  to  further  and  more  conclusive  research. 

2.  Aim. — The  proposed  study  seeks  first  by  selection  from  varied 
sources  to  identify  and  correlate  certain  psycho-physical  and  social 
elements  of  interest  at  successive  stages  of  development.     By  extend- 

1  Alexander  Inglis:  "The  Principles  of  Secondary  Education,"  p.  75. 


4  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

ing  the  conception  of  interest  to  include  the  entire  range  of  popular 
and  scientific  denotation,  it  will  seek  to  indicate  the  nature,  develop- 
ment, and  effect  of  the  significant  forms  of  its  expression.  In  this 
course  certain  relationships  are  noted  which  suggest  an  approach 
to  the  further  investigation  of  their  educational  value.  In  the  main 
this  value  should  consist  in  a  conception  of  general  principles  of 
motivation  whose  validity  is  dependent  upon  accurate  diagnosis 
of  interest.  As  applied  both  to  the  periods  of  school  life  and  to 
the  stages  of  instruction  in  a  single  subject,  this  expression  of  interest 
is  obviously  determined  by  the  other  chief  factors  in  experience — 
thought  or  knowledge,  and  action.  The  final  chapter,  which  outlines 
the  educational  bearing  of  those  preceding,  considers  these  deter- 
minants of  motivation,  in  order  to  indicate  an  approach  towards 
standardization  of  the  learning  process.  Only  tentative  conclusions 
are  reached.  Hence  discussion  of  the  study  is  rather  descriptive 
than  expository. 

3.  Previous  Investigations  and  Sources. — It  will  be  helpful  here  to 
distinguish  briefly  the  main  classes  of  contributory  material  by  select- 
ing certain  representatives  of  each  class  by  which  the  student  can 
cover  the  field  with  the  greatest  economy  of  time.  If  the  material 
be  divided  first  into  three  general  classes,  the  first  (a)  may  include 
those  works  in  which  the  analysis  of  interest  is  largely  introspective. 
Among  these  may  be  further  distinguished  those  with  a  direct  peda- 
gogical reference  and  those  without.  The  second  class  (6)  may  include 
the  various  forms  of  descriptive  psychology,  ranging  all  the  way  from 
the  results  of  laboratory  analysis  to  accurate  biographies  of  childhood 
and  adolescence.  The  intervals  in  the  range  are  marked  by  the 
divisions  of  purely  analytic  psychology,  social  psychology,  and  biologi- 
cal studies  of  various  degrees  of  scientific  tenor.  The  remaining  class 
(c)  for  lack  of  a  better  term  may  be  called  statistical.  Here  belong 
the  child-study  and  other  investigations  to  determine  by  group 
analysis  the  nature  of  interest  and  the  effect  of  various  influences 
upon  its  expression.  It  should  be  noted  that  each  of  these  classes 
is  further  distributed  between  the  strictly  pedagogical  and  the 
strictly  psychological  approach  and  also  between  the  direct  and  the 
incidental  study  of  interest.  In  spite  of  the  greater  difficulty  of 
adaptation,  the  latter  classes  are  generally  speaking  the  more 
reliable. 

(a)  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  field  of  introspective  psychology 
is  the  one  most  fertile  for  the  student  of  interest.     We  know  that  a 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  5 

particular  feeling  has  certain  qualities  for  us,  but  not  why  it  has 
them.  "Warmth  and  intimacy"  have  no  objective  criteria.  Hence 
any  account  of  the  affective  process  which  bridges  the  gaps  of  the 
physiological  approach  on  the  one  hand  and  is  free  from  a  teleo- 
logical  bias  on  the  other,  is  likely  to  square  best  with  the  facts  and 
to  provide  the  most  satisfactory  basis  for  further  analysis.  The 
statement  is  probably  correct  that  no  single  mental  trait  has  yet  been 
adequately  measured,  and  the  inference  as  to  the  role  of  feelings 
which  is  based  upon  their  expression  under  prescribed  conditions 
must  be  confirmed  by  introspective  judgment  to  win  acceptance. 
Thus  in  spite  of  its  generality  and  on  account  of  its  many  points 
of  contact  with  others,  this  field  furnishes  the  ground  work  for  the 
student  of  interest  in  education.  Its  important  contributions  are 
strictly  in  harmony  with  scientific  method  in  that  judgment  is 
brought  to  bear  upon  all  the  facts  of  all  the  sciences  pertinent  to  the 
subject  of  inquiry. 

Of  the  directly  pedagogical  literature  the  basis  is  of  course  found 
in  J.  F.  Herbart's  Outlines  of  Educational  Doctrine*  and  Science 
of  Education* — together  with  the  critical  accounts  of  Adams,3 
Graves,4  and  Tompkins.5  Herbert's  contribution  to  the  study  of 
interest  consists  in  his  rough  analysis  of  the  state  itself,6  in  the  rela- 
tion of  interest  to  other  factors  of  the  learning  process  and  to 
the  development  of  character,  and  in  the  move  toward  alignment 
of  both  sciences  with  wider  teaching  experience  and  observation. 
With  the  passing  of  the  "doctrine"  as  a  cult  and  the  rapid  develop- 
ment of  analytic  psychology,  we  have  clearly  distinguished  what 
is  valuable  in  the  Herbartian  theory  from  what  is  not.7  The  in- 
creasing recognition  of  the  child  plus  the  situation  as  the  unit  of 
endeavor  instead  of  the  class,  pTomises  to  release  this  valuable  ele- 

1  Lange  and  DeGarmo's  translation. 

1  H.  M.  and  E.  Felkin's  translation. 

'John  Adams:  "The  Herbartian  Psychology  Applied  to  Education;  The 
Evolution  of  Educational  Theory,"  p.  322ff. 

4  F.  P.  Graves:  "History  of  Education  in  Modern  Times,"  pp.  198-220. 

*  A.  Tompkins:  Herbert's  Philosophy  and  his  Educational  Theory.  Educa- 
tional Review,  Chapter  Xvl,  pp.  233-243. 

•  "  Outlines,"  Chapter  V ;  "  Science  of  Education,"  Book  II,  Chapter  III.  The 
analysis  here  given  is  never  entirely  excluded  from  modern  scientific  accounts;  e.g., 
S.  H.  Rowe:  "Habit  Formation  and  the  Science  of  Teaching,"  p.  136ff. 

7  As  often  emphasized,  Herbart's  chief  inconsistency  lies  in  regarding  ideas 
as  the  psychological  cause  of  interest  and  interest  as  the  pedagogical  means  of 
obtaining  ideasT  A 


6  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

ment  from  formalism — due  rather  to  his  disciples  than  to  Herbart 
himself — and  to  interpret  it  in  the  light  of  fuller  knowledge.  It 
is  thus  in  general  true  that  contributions  to  the  study  of  interest 
from  the  field  of  purely  introspective  thought  consist  largely  in  these 
interpretations  of  Herbartian  principles  modified  and  enriched  by 
subsequent  application  and  reflection.  Dewey's  monograph,  Interest 
and  Effort  in  Education,  may  alone  serve  to  illustrate  the  real  value 
of  recent  pedagogical  works  of  this  group.  Conspicuous  among  the 
strictly  psychological  contributions  by  the  "direct"  method  is  W. 
Mitchell's  The  Structure  and  Growth  of  the  Mind.1  The  analysis 
here  made  of  interest  as  a  factor  in  universal  experience  is  probably 
the  most  inclusive  and  adequate  to  be  found,  and  the  comparatively 
invincible  logic  of  the  positions  outlined  recommends  them  as  thor- 
oughly reliable  hypotheses  where  established  fact  is  insufficient  to 
provide  suitable  explanation  of  the  behavior  involved.  Such  confi- 
dence is  further  justified  by  the  fact  that  the  work  is  in  no  sense 
educational  in  purpose  and  the  phenomena  of  interest  are  not  isolated 
from  other  mental  phenomena.  As  such  it  alone  may  represent  the 
direct  psychological  approach.2 

(6)  It  is  difficult  to  select  from  the  wide  contribution  of  analytic 
and  descriptive  psychology  to  the  study  of  mental  traits.  For  the 
entire  physiological  approach  to  interest  the  following  are  essential: 
W.  McDougall,  Physiological  Psychology;  Th.  Ribot,  The  Psy- 
chology of  Attention;  E.  L.  Thorndike,  Educational  Psychology, 
Vol.  Ill;  F.  Arnold,  Attention  and  Interest;  and  E.  B.  Titchener, 
The  Psychology  of  Feeling  and  Attention.  Such  general  treatments 
will  frequently  require  reference  to  such  works  as  G.  F.  Stout's 
Analytical  Psychology  and  W.  H.  Howell's  Physiology. 

1  London,  1907.  The  author  distinguishes  the  direct  (or  introspective) 
explanation  of  experience  as  that  mainly  concerned  with  the  growth  of  the  mind 
through  use,  the  indirect  being  concerned  with  the  physical  account  of  experi- 
ence. For  brief  critical  appreciation  of  Mitchell's  treatment  of  interest  see 
J.  M.  Baldwin:  "  Thought  and  Things,"  III:  13,  whose  "Genetic  Theory  of  Re- 
ality "  (1915)  contains  a  further  development  of  this  treatment  of  interest. 

2  Although  the  entire  range  of  critical  and  impressionistic  writing  belongs 
properly  under  this  head.  From  among  such  brief  treatments  as  will  readily 
occur  to  the  reader,  the  following  may  be  mentioned  as  excellent: 

W.  C.  Ruediger:  "  Principles  of  Education,"    Chapter  XV. 

P.  Sandiford :  "The  Mental  and  Physical  Life  of  School  Children,"  Chapter  XIII. 

Strayer  and  Norsworthy:  "  How  to  Teach,"  Chapter  III. 

W.  C.  Bagley:  "  School  Discipline,"  Chapter  IV. 

E.  A.  Kirkpatrick:  "The  Individual  in  the  Making,"  Chapter  II. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  7 

Distinguishing  from  the  above  such  studies  of  interest  as  stress 
the  biological  and  social  aspects,  one  finds  numerous  secondary 
treatments  that  compare  favorably  with  original  investigations  in 
scope  and  which  of  course  are  more  readily  adapted  to  educational 
application.  The  approach  can  probably  be  covered  sufficiently  by 
J.  M.  Baldwin's  Mental  Development:  Social  and  Ethical  Interpre- 
tations; K.  Groos,  The  Play  of  Man;  E.  A.  Kirkpatrick,  Genetic 
Psychology;  and  W.  McDougall,  Introduction  to  Social  Psychology. 
These  should  be  supplemented  by  M.  W.  Keatinge,  Suggestion  in 
Education;  J.  Lee,  Play  in  Education;  H.  Marot,  Creative  Impulse 
in  Industry;  M.  Nicoll,  Dream  Psychology;  G.  Wallas,  Human  Na- 
ture and  Politics;  and  W.  A.  White,  Mechanisms  of  Character  For- 
mation. This  material  contributes  to  such  fundamental  topics  as 
the  source  and  role  of  interest  in  all  activity,  its  familiar  manifesta- 
tions in  the  process  of  growth,  the  modification  of  normal  biological 
tendencies  resulting  from  social  contact,  and  the  implications  of 
socialized  expression. 

(c)  The  caption  "statistical"  has  been  chosen  to  cover  the  great 
variety  of  studies — mainly  educational  in  aim — which  have  re- 
corded and  compared  the  preferences,  the  environmental  conditions, 
and  the  specific  reactions  of  groups  of  children  as  means  for  diag- 
nosing interest.  The  range  of  these  child-studies  by  questionnaire 
methods  from  1895  to  1905  may  be  readily  observed  from  the  indices 
of  such  journals  as  the  Pedagogical  Seminary  and  the  Child  Study 
Monthly  for  these  years.  Other  methods  include  the  enumeration 
of  objects  collected  at  different  ages,  analysis  of  compositions,  infer- 
ence from  definitions  of  various  objects  and  abstract  ideas,  from  free 
drawings,  from  games,  from  ideas  longest  remembered,  from  verbal 
replies  to  prepared  questions,  and  from  observation  of  the  child's 
reaction  to  pictures,  stories,  and  other  amusements.  The  two  lines 
of  study  represented  by  Terman's  Measurement  of  Intelligence  and 
Link's  Employment  Psychology  are  defining  quantatively  some  few 
"specificities"  that  enter  into  all  interest  and  relating  these  to 
environmental  controls.  This  approach,  while  chiefly  of  indirect 
value  at  present,  is  certain  to  contribute  most  eventually. 

The  fact  that  very  few  of  such  studies  have  made  any  real  contri- 
bution to  the  theory  of  interest  renders  these  few  easy  to  distin- 
guish. The  method  and  value  of  three  types  of  these  latter  may  be 
briefly  illustrated  by  Croswell's  "Amusements  of  Worcester  School 
Children;"1  Chapman  and  Feeler's    "The   Effect  of   External   In- 

1  Pedagogical  Seminary,  VI:  314-371. 


8  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

centives  on  Improvement;"1  and  Thorndike's  "Early  Interests;  Their 
Permanence  and  Relation  to  Abilities."2 

Croswell  received  2,000  replies  to  a  topical  syllabus  by  which 
children  were  asked  when,  why,  and  what  games  and  toys  were  played 
with  and  which  were  favorites.  One  thousand  replies  were  received 
from  each  sex.  These  were  tabulated  under  various  heads  to  show 
by  how  many  each  amusement  was  mentioned  and  by  how  many  it  was 
preferred,  of  each  sex.  Each  classification  under  this  scheme  is 
represented  graphically  by  per  cent  and  age  to  show  "curves  of 
relative  interest."  These  indicate  the  growth  of  "special"  interests 
and  show  the  nascent  periods  in  a  number  of  groups.  Thus  "the 
curve  of  games  of  chase  shows  that  only  eleven  per  cent  of 
all  amusements  mentioned  by  boys  of  six  years  are  of  this  character, 
but  at  nine  years  they  amount  to  over  nineteen  per  cent  and  at  six- 
teen they  have  fallen  to  less  than  four  per  cent."  Each  classification 
is  carefully  analyzed  from  many  points  of  view  and  much  col- 
lateral material  is  utilized  to  substantiate  the  conclusions  drawn. 
The  bibliography  is  entirely  complete  for  1899.  Confidence  is  further 
justified  by  the  fact  that  in  many  cases  the  teachers  talked  over  the 
questions  with  the  children,  but  what  distinguishes  the  study  from 
others  of  its  type  is  the  thorough  analysis  by  other  evidence.  As  a 
fair  indication  of  the  normal  expression  of  genetic  interests  in  one 
locality  (seven  schools  from  widely  different  communities  were  ex- 
amined), it  is  a  valuable  supplement  to  such  generalized  evidence  as 
that  presented  by  Groos  and  other  child  biographers.  By  recording 
and  classifying  all  forms  of  spontaneous  activities,  the  data  afford  much 
more  assistance  in  the  analysis  of  interest  than  closer  analysis  of 
certain  selected  activities. 

A  parallel-group  study  based  directly  on  elementary  school  prac- 
tice was  conducted  by  Chapman  and  Feeler  (1917)  to  determine 
the  effect  of  external  incentive  on  rate  of  improvement  in  performance 
of  school  work.  Assuming  the  close  relation  between  interest  and 
effort,  two  methods  were  employed, — the  direct  appeal  to  the  sub- 
ject's interest  by  showing  its  close  relation  to  the  desired  activity,  and 
the  indirect  or  borrowed  appeal  of  rewards  and  incentives  external 
to  the  process  itself.  A  group  of  thirty-six  fifth  grade  boys  and  girls 
was  divided  and  tested  for  nine  successive  days  by  Thorndike's  simple 

1  Journal  of  Educational  Psychology,  VIII :  469-474. 
3  School  and  Society,  V :  178. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  9 

addition  test  (ten  minutes),  Wood  worth  and  Wells'  cancellation  test 
(one  minute),  and  in  substituting  figures  for  numerals  (five  minutes). 
Incentive  and  stimulation  were  applied  as  follows: 

GROUP  A  GROUP  B. 

(In  addition  to  B.)  (No  stimulation  except) 

1.  Each  pupil's  results  published  for  1.  Informed  of  errors  in  addition, 
previous  day. 

2.  Point  marked  in  blue  of  previous  2.  Novelty  of  test, 
day's  performance. 

3.  General  improvement  of  class  shown  3.  Interest  in  work  itself, 
by  graph. 

4.  Credits  given  in  form  of  stars  for  4.  Same  conditions  as  those  of  serious 
improvement  from  last  record  and  school  work. 

for  position  in  class.  Prizes 
promised  at  end  of  ten  periods  to 
fifty  per  cent  who  had  most  stars 
for  efficiency  and  improvement. 

The  results,  which  are  shown  graphically,  are  somewhat  impressive. 
The  rate  of  improvement  of  the  two  groups  varies  directly  with  the 
length  of  the  practice  period  in  each  operation.  By  the  ninth  period 
the  motivated  group  stood  ten  points  higher  than  the  unmotivated, 
the  points  being  awarded  for  each  correct  operation  and  subtracted 
for  those  incorrect.  The  diagnosis  of  individual  interest  responsive 
to  such  direct  appeal  and  the  standardization  of  the  stimulus  is  clearly 
a  study  of  the  first  importance. 

While  of  no  immediate  significance  in  point  of  method,  Thorn- 
dike's  current  investigation  to  establish  a  correlation  between  inter- 
est and  ability  may  inspire  effort  to  determine  the  causes  for  the 
variation1  which  will  then  offer  an  approach  to  the  quantitative 
description  of  interest  in  terms  of  relatively  measurable  determi- 
nants. The  remark  seems  almost  superfluous  that  no  affective  state 
can  be  recognized  objectively  except  by  the  inevitable  movements 
accompanying  it,  between  which  and  the  state  itself,  in  a  given  in- 
stance, the  subject  cannot  distinguish  any  constant  correlation. 

1  As  will  later  appear,  the  compensating  interest  in  deficiencies  is  probably 
constant  and  so  would  tend  to  reduce  the  correlation  suggested  by  Thorndike  as 
eighty-nine  per  cent.  This  wider  variation,  if  established,  must  then  be  seriously 
investigated.  But  see  Thorndike,  Educational  Psychology,  III-360ff.  for  view 
of  compensation  consistent  with  the  above  text. 


10  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

From  the  replies  of  344  college  students  to  a  questionnaire  calling 
for  an  indication  of  both  interest  and  ability  in  the  various  studies 
in  the  last  three  years  of  elementary  school,  in  high  school,  and  in 
college, — the  following  ratios  are  computed : 

Previous 
Results  from    Results  from 
344  100 

Individuals     Individuals 

Permanence  of  Interests' 

Elementary  school  interest  with  high  school  interest ....  r  =  .  85 

Elementary  school  interest  with  college  interest r  =  .  66  .66 

High  school  interest  with  college  interest r  =  .  79 

Permanence  of  Abilities 

Elementary  school  ability  with  high  school  ability r  =  .  83 

Elementary  school  ability  with  college  ability r  =  .71             .66 

High  school  ability  with  college  ability r  =  .  66             .6 

Resemblance  of  an  Individual's  Order  of 
Interest  to  his  Order  of  Abilities 

In  last  3  years  of  elementary  school r  =  .89  .89 

In  high  school r  =  .  89  .89 

In  college r  =  .  89  .89 

After  making  allowance  for  error,  the  author  concludes  "On  the 
whole  I  believe  that  the  correlations  given  above  are  approximately 
what  an  omniscient  observer  of  these  persons  would  have  found. 
...  As  another  case  of  special  interest  in  practice  we  may  take  the 
significance  of  the  reports  of  relative  interest  at  11-14,  for  rela- 
tive ability  at  21  or  later,  commonly  later."  This  latter  possibility 
certainly  offers  sufficient  incentive  to  improve  the  methods  by  which 
real  interests  may  be  diagnosed  more  specifically  to  indicate  promise, 
if  it  be  established  that  their  correlations  with  measureable  abilities 
are  low. 

This  hasty  survey  of  sources  should  suggest  the  wide  variety  of 
approaches  to  the  study  and  something  of  the  relative  and  particular 
value  of  each  type  of  material. 

4.  Method  of  Procedure. — The  study  to  be  outlined  is  based  upon  a 
three  fold  division  of  subject  matter.  There  are  other  reasons  for 
this  division  than  that  of  mere  convenience.  Employing  the  familiar 
distinction  between  teaching,  instruction,  and  education  which  identi- 
fies teaching  with  skill-training,  instruction  with  the  organization  of 
knowledge  by  habit,  and  education  with  the  modification  of  character 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  11 

by  the  addition  of  ideals  to  the  foregoing,  we  have  a  basis,  largely 
hypothetical  no  doubt,  for  distinction  between  aspects  of  the  process. 
Such  distinction  is  further  supported  by  the  "three  levels"  of  neural 
development.  The  concomitant  activities  of  these  are  somewhat  in 
agreement  with  the  interests  characteristic  of  each  period  as  ex- 
pressed in  favorite  amusements,  etc.,  which,  are  assigned  roughly  to 
the  mental  ages  birth  to  six,  six  to  nine,  and  nine  to  fourteen.  Still 
further  it  is  convenient  to  group  the  data  under  the  physiological,  the 
biological  and  the  sociological  interpretations  so  as  to  furnish  loosely 
corresponding  treatments  of  (I)  interest  as  a  state  of  consciousness, 
(II)  of  its  development  in  universal  forms  of  expression,  and  (III) 
of  the  modifications  in  its  expression  hitherto  regarded  as  instinc- 
tive which  result  from  social  contact.  While  it  needs  to  be  emphasized 
that  development  of  interest  like  that  of  all  mental  traits  is  gradual 
and  that  distinct  periods  of  growth  in  the  various  factors  do  not  syn- 
chronize at  the  three  stages  in  one  individual,  still  it  is  believed  that 
the  theoretical  analysis  is  in  sufficiently  close  agreement  with  biological 
law  to  justify  this  plan  of  procedure. 

5.  Scope  and  Definition  of  Terms. — In  order  that  the  account  may 
be  as  inclusive  as  possible,  the  term  interest  is  interpreted  in  its  literal 
sense  to  include  all  media  of  correspondence  between  the  mind  and 
the  object,  real  or  imaginary,  of  its  contemplation.  Subtracting 
thought  and  action  from  the  course  of  experience,  interest  is  what 
remains.  Hence  interest  implies  the  emotional  accompaniment  of 
every  attentive  state  without  regard  to  the  quality  or  intensity  of  the 
emotional  tone.  While  this  catholic  and  somewhat  technical  use  of 
the  term  is  partly  restricted  and  partly  justified  as  the  discussion 
proceeds,  it  is  believed  that  no  other  can  be  strictly  in  keeping  with 
the  purpose  of  the  inquiry. 

To  prevent  analysis  in  vacuo,  certain  hypotheses  are  here  sug- 
gested in  anticipation  of  their  later  development.  It  is  important 
that  some  understanding  be  reached  at  the  outset  concerning  the  re- 
lation of  interest  to  mental  experience  as  such  and  to  other  phe- 
nomena of  which  it  forms  a  part. 

Assuming  interest  to  lie  entirely  within  the  limits  of  the  affective 
process  by  which  knowledge  and  action  are  determined,1  one  may 

1  For  authority  in  the  same  general  terms  cf.  J.  Jastrow,  "  What  men  do  depends 
upon  what  they  believe,  and  how  they  feel,"  u  The  Psychology  of  Conviction,"  p.  7, 
and  also  "Fundamentally  beliefs  are  formed  and  held  because  they  satisfy." 
Ibid  p.  5. 


Jc^j 


12  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

first  consider  the  relation  of  interest  to  feeling  in  general.  Reduced 
to  its  simplest  terms,  the  process  of  development  begins  with  certain 
specific  reactions  to  appropriate  stimuli  which  the  organism  is  pre- 
natally  disposed  to  feel.  At  this  stage  the  affect  forms  practically 
the  whole  of  experience  which  results  from  tendencies  to  experiment 
with  various  stimuli.  At  a  later  stage,  when  present  feeling  is  modi- 
fied by  the  results  of  former  feeling,  experience  is  determined  by  both. 
Interest,  by  hypothesis,  is  determined  by  the  results  of  former  feeling, 
I  i.e.,  by  experience.  It  should  be  noted  that  here  such  past  experience 
is  useful  for  merely  specific  ends.  Organized  response  to  a  particular 
p  set  of  stimuli  is  not  adapted  to  a  different  but  similar  set.1  At  a  still 
later  stage  previous  experience  is  so  organized  that  reactions  to  usual 
situations  are  made  with  maximum  ease  and  minimum  feeling.  Un- 
usual situations  are  recognized  as  such  and  graded  with  respect  to  the 
intensity  of  the  emotional  response  required.  Such  intensity  is  deter- 
mined by  the  now  habitual  interests  of  the  individual  experience. 
Thus  the  inverse  ratio  of  feeling  and  organized  knowledge  varies 
7  between  pure  feeling  and  complete  knowledge.  From  this  it  may  be 
'  observed  that  interest  includes  those  elements  of  present  feeling  which 
combined  with  organic  tendencies  and  associated  elements  of  past 
feeling  may  be  understood  to  determine  the  intensity,  direction,  and 
persistence  of  each  attentive  state.  The  investigation  is  then,  in  a 
sense,  to  analyze  and  explain  these  determinants  with  reference  to 
successive  periods  of  growth. 

In  order  to  identify  forms  of  behavior  resulting  from  these  organic 
tendencies  rather  than  from  associated  elements  of  past  feeling,  the 
distinction  between  interest  and  instinct  deserves  brief  comment. 
It  is  clear  that  such  distinction  must  be  arbitrary  since  the  functions 
of  both  overlap  so  considerably  in  any  given  experience.  Essentially 
the  criterion  is  the  degree  to  which  the  course  of  reaction  is  perfected. 
Hence  acquired  instincts  differ  from  organic  instincts  simply  in  that  the 
latter  direct  the  course  of  seeking  without  reference  to  previous  experi- 
ence. The  development  is  therefore  from  instinct  through  interest 
to  acquired  instinct.     This  notion  may  serve  here  to  avoid  the  con- 


jj)>^  l  Thus  the  boy  who  is  first  reduced  to  tears  by  the  sight  of  his  brother's  chastise- 

ment and  later  by  the  mental  picture  of  Simon  Legree's  lash  across  the  back  of 
Uncle  Tom,  has  failed  so  to  relate  knowledge  with  feeling  that  a  recurrence  of 
the  generic  situation  will  provoke  the  same  response — desire  to  avert  suffering, 
perhaps — with  decreased  intensity  of  feeling. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  13 

fusion  which  must  otherwise  exist  between  so-called  "special"  interests 
and  acquired  instincts.1 

It  is  desirable  to  make  another  distinction  here  for  future  refer- 
ence. Both  feeling  and  interest  imply  pleasure-pain,  satisfaction  and 
dissatisfaction,  etc.,  as  resulting  from  any  situation  toward  which 
attention  is  directed.  Both  should  however  be  distinguished  from 
thought  of  such  situation.  The  object  as  it  is  set  before  us,  we  think; 
the  manner  in  which  it  affects  us,  we  feel.  Therefore  by  our  interest 
in  the  object  we  refer  to  our  attitude  toward  it,  and  we  may  think 
of  this  attitude  as  well  as  of  the  objective  qualities.  Interest  in  the 
object  may  be  spoken  of  as  a  quality  of  the  object  and  so  included  in 
our  thought  of  it.  A  cheerful  fire  is  thought  of  as  a  kind  of  fire  that 
makes  the  beholder  cheerful.  Hence  interest  is  often,  yet  not  always, 
included  in  thought  of  a  particular  situation,  but  thought  is  not 
properly  included  in  the  interest.2 

This  distinction  between  interest  in  the  object  and  interest  in  the 
thought  of  it  is  useful  in  defining  what  is  referred  to  throughout 
as  type  of  interest.  By  analogy  with  memory  the  question  is  often 
asked;  there  is  interest,  but  are  there  interests?8  The  answer  depends 
of  course  upon  whether  interest  is  considered  as  potential  or  as  ex- 
pressed in  various  situations.  In  the  latter  case  it  is  evident  that 
previous  experience  with  a  similar  situation  determines  the  subject's 
attitude  both  to  the  situation  itself  and  to  the  thought  of  it.  There  is 
then  a  logical  basis  for  a  theoretical  classification  of  such  attitudes^ 
by  types  of  experience.  Furthermore  since  certain  types  of  interest 
as  distinguished  by  such  attitudes  are  characteristic  of  each  individu- 
al and  so  greatly  affect  his  interpretation  of  environment,  the  dis- 
covery of  the  appropriate  type  and  a  knowledge  of  its  limitations  is  the 
theoretical  prerequisite  of  effective  motivation.  As  distinguished  in 
the  analysis  to  follow  the  types  are  three:  an  intrinsic,  which  seeks' 

1  This  distinction  is  regularly  ignored  in  popular  studies  of  "the  collective 
instinct,"  "the  travel  instinct,"  etc.,  and  becomes  tenuous  as  regards  imitation, 
gregariousness,  curiosity,  et  aL 

2  For  elaboration  of  this  distinction  which  is  most  important  in  educational 
practice  and  for  the  study  of  correlations  between  interest,  knowledge  and  abilities, 
see  W.  Mitchell,  op.  tit.,  pp.  64-65.  The  investigations  of  J.  M.  Cattell  and  others 
have  established  the  fact  that  attention  to  an  entirely  uninteresting  object  is 
seldom  longer  than  a  minute's  duration.  This  does  not  invalidate  the  above 
distinction. 

1  e.g.,  G.  E.  St.  John:  Children's  Interests.  Child  Sl-udy  Monthly,  3:  pp. 
284-286. 


14  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

indulgence  of  feeling  toward  the  situation;  practical,  which  seeks  use- 
fulness, or  directs  action  towards  the  situation;  and  cognitive,  which 
seeks  meaning.1  Each  of  these  types  is  conceived  to  be  differentiated 
by  socialized  expression  so  as  later  to  bring  certain  elements  into 
prominence  that  are  comparatively  negligible  during  infancy. 

For  further  assistance  in  classifying  interest  in  particular  forms 
of  activity  the  term  variety  of  interest  has  been  accepted  as  some- 
what synonymous  with  "special  interests"  as  the  latter  term  is  popu- 
larly used.  There  is,  however,  the  difference  that  the  variety  of 
interest  applies  to  that  common  quality  of  certain  objects  or  activi- 
ties which  explains  the  subject's  attitude  toward  them,  in  the  sense 
that  the  attitude  can  only  be  known  objectively  as  it  is  combined 
with  thought  of  the  object  and  so  regarded  as  a  quality.2  "Special" 
interests  are  usually  identified  with  the  chosen  activities  themselves. 
While  certain  elementary  varieties  may  occur  in  any  type,  those 
appearing  later  tend  to  find  expression  in  appropriate  types;  though 
since  the  pure  type  probably  exists  only  in  abstraction,  the  truth  of 
this  statement  depends  largely  upon  the  specific  case. 

It  is  recognized  that  without  copious  illustration,  which  space 
does  not  permit,  the  formal  statements  and  diagrams  of  such 
general  principles  as  the  above  may  tend  to  obscure  the  facts  they 
are  intended  to  organize.  It  should  therefore  be  emphasized  at 
this  point  that  the  principles  hereafter  outlined  are  valueless  except 
as  applied  to  the  specific  situation.  The  situation  can  never  be 
applied  to  the  formula  without  danger  of  aeroplaning. 

6.  Problems  Excluded  from  the  Discussion. — (a)  No  attempt  will 
be  made  to  justify  the  theory  of  the  concomitant  development  of 

1  After  W.  Mitchell,  loc.  tit.  In  general,  the  agreement  among  authorities  in 
different  fields  upon  this  logical  classification  of  interests  is  surprisingly  close. 
Following  Herbert's  three-fold  classification  under  the  two  divisions  of  "knowl- 
edge" and  "participation,"  others  who  have  employed  substantially  the  same 
terms  as  the  above  are  W.  H.  Kilpatrick:  The  Problem-project  Attack  in  Organ- 
izing Subject-matter  and  Teaching,  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1918,  pp.  528ff.;  J. 
Dewey:  "  Interest  and  Effort,"  Chapter  IV;  W.  McDougall:  "An  Introduction  to 
Social  Psychology,"  p.  26;  C.  R.  Henderson:  "Principles  of  Education,"  p.  389; 
N.  M.  Butler:  "  Meaning  of  Education,"  p.  17,  who  distinguishes  religious  and 
literary  from  the  purely  intrinsic  type;  J.  Welton:  "  Psychology  of  Education,"  p. 
198;  and  P.  Sandiford:  "  The  Mental  and  Physical  life  of  School  Children,"  p.  224. 

!  Hence  novelty,  interest,  repetition  and  movement  as  well  as  the  acquired 
instincts,  curiosity,  imitation,  et  al,  are  discussed  as  varieties  of  interest,  since 
all  serve  to  explain  the  expression  of  interest  in  particular  as  against  the  general 
expression  distinguished  by  the  type. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  15 

mental  traits,  the  general  validity  of  which,  in  contrast  to  the  theory 
of  periodic  development,  is  assumed.  This  applies  likewise  to  the 
rejection  of  saltatory  development  at  adolescence.  Without  such 
reservations  the  enforced  plan  of  discussion  would  superficially  imply 
abrupt  transition  between  stages  of  interest  and  the  periodic  appear- 
ance of  varieties  of  interest. 

(6)  The  theoretical  nature  of  the  discussion  focusses  attention 
upon  the  phenomena  of  interest  as  observable  in  groups.  This 
should  not  lead  to  the  assumption  that  individual  differences  are 
ignored  which  is  one  purpose  of  the  study  to  explain.  The  first  step 
in  motivation  consists  in  determining  the  varieties  of  interest  in 
which  expression  is  temporarily  most  intense  and  thereafter  in 
such  instruction  as  will  evoke  expression  in  useful  content  as  the 
result  of  voluntary  effort  of  attention.  The  principles  derived  from 
groups  presuppose  such  individual  study  for  their  application. 

(c)  The  question  of  the  relation  between  coercion  and  appeal 
to  direct  interest  is  excluded  on  the  grounds  that  the  situation 
should  determine  the  practice.  The  effects  of  coercion  upon  ex- 
pression of  interest  are  briefly  treated. 


Chapter  Two.     The  Nature  of  Interest 

Interest  as  a  state  of  consciousness — the  first  of  the  three  aspects 
to  be  considered — is  implied  by,  if  not  included  in,  the  phenomena 
of  attention.  The  physiological  approach  to  the  study  of  interest 
must  underlie  all  other  approaches,  since  "The  physiological  conditions 
of  the  brain's  activities  are  the  first  modifiers  of  feeling  and  action."1 
Only  so  far  as  the  attentive  process  is  understood  in  its  relation  to 
various  types  of  experience  can  the  nature  and  development  of  indivi- 
dual interest  be  explained  by  the  effects  of  such  experience.  Both 
outer  stimuli  and  inner  structure  are  involved.  The_attentive  process 
must  accordingly  be  considered  for  two  purposes:  first,  in  order  to 
obtain  a  working  conception  of  interest-attention  as  depending  largely 
upon  environmental  factors;  and,  secondly,  to  identify  various  phe- 
nomena of  interest  with  physiological  processes  by  which  these  phe- 
nomena are  conditioned. 

The  wide  difference  of  expert  opinion  as  to  the  distinction  between 
attention  and  interest  is  proof  that  no  clear  distinction  exists.2  Yet 
some  such  distinction  is  required  if  environmental  stimuli  are  to 
be  so  related  to  organic  processes  that  the  effect  of  each  is  apparent 
■.)  in  the  normal  expression  of  interest.  As  best  suiting  this  purpose 
the  distinction  may  therefore  be  made  on  the  basis  of  relativity. 
Such  factors  of  the  interest-attention  state  as  are  more  largely  organic 
and  hence  constant  in  their  effects  upon  various  normal  individuals 
may  be  identified  with  attention.  Such  factors  as  are  largely  environ- 
mental and  hence  variable  in  their  effects  may  be  identified  with 
„.j^M  interest.     Attention,    thus    conceived   results   largely   from   nature, 

and  interest  from  nurture.  The  former  implies  the  capacity  to  attend, 
and  the  latter  the  direction  of  such  capacity  by  the  creation  of  desires 
and  aversions  through  contact  with  environment. 

This  distinction  between  absolute  and  relative  factors  in  the 
same  state  of  consciousness  serves  the  first  purpose  outlined  above  by 

1  E.  L.  Thorndike:  "  Educational  Psychology,"  III :  308. 
*cf.  E.  B.  Titchener:  "Psychology  of  Feeling  and  Attention,"  pp.  294ff.  for 
views  of  Ebblinghaus,  Pillsbury,  Stout,  and  Wundt. 

16 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  17 

suggesting  a  correspondence  between  types  of  interest  and  types  of 
attention.  Such  correspondence  is  clearly  helpful  in  the  attempt  to 
explain  differences  in  mental  process  as  determined  by  differences  in 
environment.  The  reference  to  "types"  of  attention  suggests  that  the 
modern  analysis  of  the  state  under  the  heads  of  span,  concentration, 
distribution,  etc.  is  to  be  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  older  classi- 
fication— involuntary,  non-voluntary,  and  voluntary  (McDougall), 
or  sensorial  and  intellectual  (James),  or  emotional  and  volitional 
(Meumann),  etc.  The  classification  has  the  advantage  in  the  present 
instance  of  including  all  the  factors  capable  of  analysis  in  addition 
to  other  factors  implied  in  a  given  state  and  yet  incapable  of  differen- 
tiation. The  classification  accepted  by  McDougall  as  above1  is  further 
useful  in  that  the  distinction  between  types  of  attention  is  based  on 
the  motor  and  neural  processes  involved.  The  relation  of  organic 
structure  to  environmental  differences  is  thereby  greatly  facilitated 
provided  that  some  connection  can  be  established  between  types  of 
attention  and  types  of  interest,  the  latter  to  be  distinguished  by  the 
class  of  situations  or  of  objects  attended  to. 

The  simplest  means  of  arriving  at  this  correspondence  between 
types  of  attention  and  of  interest  is  to  note  the  effects  of  each  type  of 
attention  in  the  expression  of  interest.  The  course  of  expression  at  any 
stage  of  development  proceeds  from  a  relatively  less  satisfying  state  of 
consciousness  and  seeks  a  relatively  more  satisfying  state.  The 
mechanical  or  motory  process  of  the  seeking  is  attention,  and  interest 
yields  the  feeling  of  satisfaction  or  dissatisfaction.2  Hence  it  is 
evident  that  the  distinction  between  types  must  depend  primarily 
upon  the  nature  of  the  object  which  determines  the  course  of  seeking. 
Certain  classes  of  objects  which  provoke  relatively  more  intense 
feelings  of  satisfaction  or  dissatisfaction  serve  also  to  select  those 
motor  processes  best  able  to  produce  the  desired  effect.  The  effects 
of  involuntary,  non-voluntary,  and  voluntary  attention  may  thus 
be  noted  as  resulting  from  intensity  of  stimulus.  It  is  obvious  that 
the  distinction  between  types  is  rather  one  of  degree  than  of  kind. 

The  characteristic  effect  of  involuntary  attention  is  fixation, 
or  placing  the  object  in  such  position  that  a  clearer  view  is  obtained. 
The  physical  sub-processes  implied  result  in  the  better  adjustment 
of  the  sense  organs,  movements  to  or  from  the  object,  and  instinctive 
analysis  of  it.    The  type  is  chiefly  distinguished  by  the  motor  element, 

1  Mind  N.  S.t  XI:  319,  Note  1. 

*cf.  W.  Mitchell:  "The  Structure  and  Growth  of  the  Mind,"  pp.  90ff. 


18  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

which  is  reflex  or  instinctive.  The  adjustment  is  entirely  effortless 
and  no  feelings  of  inhibition  are  apparent.1  This  fact  justifies  the 
assumption  that  involuntary  attention  which  persists  appreciably 
beyond  the  reaction  time  is  commonly  aroused  only  by  situations  of 
relatively  maximum  intensity.  Such  situations  demanding  immediate 
response  are  referred  directly  to  the  instinctive  mechanism  without 
risking  the  delay  involved  in  judgment.  This  directness  of  response 
resulting  from  maximum  intensity  of  stimulus  is  also  characteristic  of 
the  intrinsic  type  of  interest  which  seeks  indulgence  in  feeling  as  such. 
It  finds  expression  in  such  varieties  of  interest  as  are  based  in  qualities 
of  objects  that  are  intense  in  themselves;  as,  for  example,  novelty, 
contrast,  repetition,  movement,  rhythm  and  other  qualities  leading 
to  states  of  absorption.  Involuntary  attention  and  intrinsic  interest 
are  both  implied  in  sensori-motor  experiment  and  in  response  to 
strong  stimuli. 

The  normal  effect  of  non-voluntary  attention  is  merely  a  later 
phase  of  the  fixation  process  which  occurs  when  the  desired  state  is 
not  promptly  attained.  This  effect  has  been  termed  mental  manipu- 
lation. It  consists  in  a  revolving,  analysis,  and  comparison  of  the 
situation  with  others.  The  ideo-motor  process  which  controls  the 
course  of  seeking  is  based  on  experience  of  earlier  reflex  movements. 
Action  involves  scarcely  more  effort  than  when  attention  is  involuntary. 
Here  again  the  effect  of  attention  is  to  provide  the  means  for  the 
realization  of  interest  which  in  this  case  seeks  a  change  rendered 
desirable  by  previous  rather  than  present  experience.  Its  commoner 
expressions  reveal  interest  in  the  overcoming  of  obstacles.  Such 
interest  is  properly  classified  as  practical  since  it  includes  such  varieties 
as  find  expression  in  outer  imitation,  pursuit,  and  all  forms  of  rivalry 
upon  which  the  survival  of  the  organism  most  directly  depends. 
Intensity  is  lower  than  in  expressions  of  intrinsic  interest  since  the 
course  of  seeking  is  less  immediately  satisfying  in  itself.  Interest 
in  the  pure  stimulus  is  greater  than  interest  in  the  object  to  be  resisted. 
Thus  the  simultaneous  appearance  and  scope  of  both  non-voluntary 
attention  and  practical  interest  in  all  habitual  behavior  suggests 
a  correspondence  between  these  types. 

The  effect  of  voluntary  attention  is  continued  scrutiny  of  the  object. 
Action  is  impeded  by  the  necessity  for  selection  of  the  best  means  from 
all  means  available.     Neural  dispositions  resulting  from  past  experi- 

1  Though  the  factor  of  inhibition  is  doubtless  involved  as  suggested  by  Sherring- 
ton: "Integration  of  the  Nervous  S3rstem." 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  19 

ence  must  be  successively  inhibited.  Hence  the  process  might  last 
indefinitely,  but  for  the  factor  of  fatigue  and  changes  in  the  object 
itself  which  may  bring  relief  in  action  before  the  difficulty  has  been 
solved.  In  this  course  of  seeking,  interest  implies  the  revival  of  and 
selection  from  all  relevant  ideas  that  may  further  the  realization  of 
useful  knowledge.  Such  interest  may  therefore  be  classified  as  cog- 
nitive or  intellectual  and  said  to  correspond  with  voluntary  attention . 
It  should  however  be  noted  that  in  cognitive  interest  the  nisic  character 
of  the  attentive  state  is  of  very  brief  duration.  The  slow  rhythm  and 
fluctuation  characteristic  of  voluntary  attention  may  reduce  the  in- 
tensity to  such  a  point  that  attention  dies, — and  with  it  very  frequently 
the  interest.  Or  else  success  in  solving  one  aspect  of  the  problem 
before  attention  may  introduce  practical  or  intrinsic  elements  to  the 
existing  variety  of  interest  which  serve  to  increase  the  intensity, — 
often  so  as  to  render  attention  non-voluntary  or  involuntary.  Hence 
the  inhibitory  effect  of  voluntary  attention  need  last  only  long  enough 
to  admit  other  types  of  interest. 

Otherwise  stated,  attention  to  any  object  or  situation  provides 
the  means  by  which  one  or  more  types  of  interest  may  be  realized. 
Particular  sub-processess  involved  in  the  course  of  seeking  are  selected 
by  the  immediacy  of  response  required,  which  depends  upon  the  intensity 
of  interest  determined  by  the  type  of  experience.  The  situation  may 
stimulate  in  order  to  obtain  emotional  satisfaction,  thus  revealing 
intrinsic  interest;  or  attention  may  seek  to  overcome  a  physical  diffi- 
culty,— the  practical  type  of  interest;  or  in  order  to  understand  the 
situation  for  future  usefulness, — the  cognitive  type  of  interest.  It 
should  be  further  noted  that  each  attitude  toward  environment,  as 
indicated  by  type  of  interest,  includes  more  specific  "varieties,"  which 
are  later  to  be  considered  in  discussing  the  growth  of  interest.  Several 
such  varieties  are  common  to  all  types  of  interest, — for  example 
interest  in  achievement  or  social  superiority,  which  follows  the  realiza- 
tion of  all  interest  and  is  the  affective  equivalent  of  organic  processes 
making  for  self-preservation.  Even  when  inattentive  or  involuntarily 
attentive,  this  interest  in  achievement  consists  in  the  felt  attitudes  to  as- 
pects not  attended  to  and  in  the  exercise  of  the  senses.  Ideo-motor  non- 
voluntary attention  reveals  this  interest  in  successful  performance 
of  habitual  acts;  voluntary  attention  in  the  realization  of  one  or  more 
specific  interests  in  the  problem.  Such  specific  interests  illustrate  the 
shifting  of  types.  Voluntary  attention  may  seek  to  realize  interest  in 
achievement  by  the  possession  of  fuller  feeling  and  appreciation,  i.e., 


20  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

intrinsic  interest;  or  in  a  new  feeling  by  assuming  a  practical  attitude 
toward  the  object  or  a  different  attitude  toward  itself;  or  in  relief  from 
conflicting  feelings  by  thinking  out  each  side  and  comparing  con- 
sequences.1 The  predominant  role  of  this  interest  in  achievement 
found  in  impulses  largely  biological  in  origin,  becomes  an  interest  in 
personal  superiority  as  the  result  of  social  activity.  The  important 
psychological  implications  of  resistance  to  this  interest  are  discussed 
in  a  later  chapter. 

To  clarify  this  discussion  of  the  nature  of  interest  as  determined 
largely  from  without  and  hence  to  facilitate  future  reference,  the 
substance  of  preceding  remarks  is  represented  in  Figure  One.  The 
scale  of  attention  is  arranged  about  as  suggested  by  Ribot2  to  illus- 
trate the  graduated  intensity  of  types.  The  relationships  indicated 
in  the  chart  of  interest  are  substantially  in  accord  with  the  facts  as 
recorded  by  group  studies  and  logical  inference.  The  clear  dis- 
tinction between  types  shown  by  the  segments  of  the  diagram 
postulates  a  pure  type  of  interest,  which  seldom  occurs.  Later 
analysis  will  reveal  a  margin  of  overlapping  which  serves  to  justify 
the  apparent  restriction  of  cognitive  interest  to  attentive  states  of 
low  intensity.  The  figure  becomes  more  intelligible  if  the  three 
segments  are  regarded  as  composing  a  fan,  which  may  close  to  the 
width  of  any  one  segment  or  open  to  the  width  of  all  three — as  here 
shown.  This  emphasizes  the  fact  that  each  variety  of  interest  may 
occur  in  all  types.  For  example,  when  a  boy  is  sufficiently  inter- 
ested in  the  glitter  of  a  piece  of  metal  to  pick  it  out  of  the  mud,  his 
interest  may  he  wholly  in  the  response  to  strong  visual  stimulus — the 
gleam — and  is  therefore  intrinsic.  Or  it  may  be  the  hope  of  sudden 
wealth — a  practical  interest.  Or  it  may  be  curiosity  to  learn  why  it 
gleams — a  cognitive  interest.  In  each  case  the  reaction  and  hence 
the  function  of  attention  depends  upon  the  intensity  of  interest  regard- 
less of  type,  though  the  theoretical  correspondence  may  usually  be 
justified  in  a  given  instance. 

Passing  to  the  second  consideration  of  the  physiological  approach, 
we  have  to  identify  various  phenomena  of  interest  with  physiologi- 
cal processes  which  condition  these  phenomena.  In  other  words 
it  is  necessary  to  shift  the  point  of  view  from  the  environmental  to 
the  organic  and  neurological  conditions  of  attention  by  which  the 
growth   of  interest  is  determined.     Without  pausing  to  relate  the 

1  cf.  W.  Mitchell,  op.  cit.,  pp.  95,  98. 

2  "Psychology  of  Attention, "pp.  HOff. 


INTEREST  - 


Seme 


superiority 


anisic  forma 
Intensity  increasing 


nisie  forms 
Intensity  decreasing 


o  «M 


-  wwm  - 


2"H 


22  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

many  subsidiary  factors  of  attention  to  the  phenomena  of  interest,1  it 
is  well  at  least  to  mention  those  processes  whose  genetic  development 
serves  to  explain  stages  in  the  development  of  interest.  Such 
universal  forms  of  expression  as  are  mentioned  in  connection  with 
the  growth  of  interest  (Chapter  Three)  will  thus  imply  the  phys- 
iological conditions  characteristic  of  each  stage  of  development.  For 
this  purpose  a  most  casual  reference  will  suffice. 

Assuming  familiarity  with  the  treatments  of  Baldwin,  Thorn- 
dike,  and  Wundt,  we  may  postulate  three  stages  of  interest  and 
suggest  under  broad  headings  the  physiological  factors  most  character- 
istic of  each.  As  commonly  distinguished2  these  stages  are  assigned 
roughly  to  the  years  birth  to  9,  9  to  13,  and  13  to  maturity.  The 
first  may  be  termed  experimental,  implying  interest  in  sensory  and 
motor  exercise  for  its  own  sake  or  for  relatively  insignificant  ends. 
The  second,  or  imitative  stage,  marks  the  appearance  of  aggressive 
and  defensive  social  interests  that  show  native  biological  tendencies 
in  partial  conflict  with  environment.  The  third  or  reflective  stage, 
while  of  course  including  the  features  of  the  earlier  stages,  shows  the 
individual  largely  identified  with  certain  ends.  Such  interests  may 
be  said  to  have  become  habitual.  While  the  expression  of  all 
interest  is  normally  distributed  over  the  range  of  development 
indicated  by  the  three  stages,  these  periods  determined  by  the  notion 
of  neural  arcs  are  helpful  for  purposes  of  classification. 

The  physiological  basis  of  interest-attention  may  be  referred  to 
the  combination  of  organic  and  neural  processes.  The  organic  must 
here  be  largely  disregarded,  yet  their  role  in  the  effective  expression 
of  interest  is  fundamental.  Motor,  respiratory,  and  vaso-motor 
phenomena  are  essential  constituents  of  every  state.  The  genetic 
development  of  these  organic  processes  is  implied  by  capacity  for 
rational  choice,  which  involves  conscious  eontrol  of  motor  processes 
and  to  some  extent  of  the  respiratory.  In  a  word,  the  stages  of  in- 
terest are  marked  by  the  appearance  of  various  forms  of  movement. 
Reflex  and  instinctive,  ideo-motor,  and  voluntary  movements 
develop  successively  and  imply  greater  capacity  to  profit  by  exper- 
ience, as  suggested  in  the  preceding  discussion  of  type.  Since  all 
forms  of  attention  must  appear  in  each  stage  and  develop  concom- 

1  McDougall  offers  a  list  of  fifteen  such  factors  which  might  profitably  be  so 
related.    Mind.  N.  S.,  XII:  317-8. 

1  By  Adams:  "Exposition  and  Illustration  in  Teaching,"  p.  54;  Baldwin, 
"Mental  Development:  Social  and  Ethical  Interpretations,"  pp.  362ff ;  Croswell, 
loc.  tit.;  et  al. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  23 

itantly,  the  course  of  motor  development  toward  voluntary  inhibi- 
tion is  closely  parallel.  Certain  reflex  movements  are  valuable 
aids  in  the  diagosis  of  unconscious  interest.  Others  by  mere  ex- 
penditure of  energy  facilitate  attention  indirectly  by  arousing  the 
motor  centers,  and  directly  by  adjustment  of  the  sense  organs.  In- 
stinctive movements  combine  a  series  of  reflex  movements  in  a  cer- 
tain order  which  the  ideo-motor  process  connects  with  an  idea  of  the 
situation  as  a  whole.  Hence  the  effect  of  the  movement  upon  the 
impression  or  idea  is  the  important  one  of  reinforcenemt  by  inner- 
vation. The  idea  can  be  more  clearly  distinguished  if  the  related 
movement  is  actually  made.  The  inhibitions  of  voluntary  move- 
ment are  likewise  explained  as  the  omission  to  reinforce  ideas  with 
undesirable  associations.  Such  inhibitions  involve  the  uncertain 
relation  of  interest  to  fatigue.  The  remark  is  probably  safe  that 
the  degree  of  general  fatigue  inhibited  varies  directly,  but  within 
narrow  limits,  with  intensity  of  affective  tone.1  Respiratory  pro- 
cesses, as  determining  in  part  the  distribution  of  attention,  develop 
similarly.  The  vaso-motor  process,  as  regulating  with  other  factors 
the  supply  of  blood  to  the  brain,  determines  also  the  intensity  of  the 
attentive  state  and  is  an  important  condition  of  definite  association 
and  reinforcement.  As  related  to  affective  states  these  phenomena 
are  perhaps  most  conveniently  discussed  by  W.  H.  Howell's  Phys- 
iology and  the  briefer  treatment  of  F.  Arnold's  Attention  and 
Interest. 

Any  adequate  discussion  of  the  neural  process  as  determining 
the  nature  and  growth  of  interest  requires  that  recent  conflicting 
theories  of  the  apperceptive  process  be  analyzed  in  the  light  of  the 
most  reliable  behavjoristia_£vidence^  Such  analysis  is  impossible 
here.  Yet  the  nature  of  the  inquiry  may  be  suggested  by  the 
selection  of  the  three  widely  accepted  principles  which  McDougall 
declares  to  constitute  the  indispensible  basis  of  physiological 
psychology;  namely,  the  specific  energies  of  sensory  nerves,  strict 
localization  of  cerebral  functions,  and  the  principle  of  association.2  On 
the  basis  of  these  principles  and  their  implications,  the  specific  ener- 
gies, i.e.,  tendencies  resulting  from  sensory  or  ideational  stimulus, 
must  occur  in  "the  specific  constitution  of  structural  elements  of 
the  cerebral  cortex  that  are  capable  of  becoming  associated  together 

1  cf.  Thorndike,  op.  cit.,  pp.  120f.  and  C.  S.  Myers:  "Introduction  to  Experi- 
mental Psychology,"  p.  107. 

2  "  Introduction  to  Physiological  Psychology,"  pp.  58f.  — 


24  An  Approach  to  the  Syrthetic 

when  thrown  into  simultaneous  action."1  The  organization  of  these 
elements  in  functional  groups,  by  which  the  nervous  system  evolves, 
is  believed  to  consist  in  the  formation  and  perfection  of  synapses 
which  therefore  determine  both  the  direction  and  intensity  of  inter- 
est. This  leads  to  a  preliminary  statement  regarding  the  relation 
of  feeling  and  knowledge,  that  intensity  of  the  psychical  process 
varies  inversely  with  the  complexity  of  neural  organization,  or  knowl- 
edge. Psychical  activity  results  when  the  resistance  of  the  synapse 
to  the  neural  current  is  high  because  of  the  novelty  or  infrequency 
of  such  currents — hence  the  affective  value  and  interest  in 
/  strong  and  unsual  stimuli,  surprise,  etc.  When  the  resistance  of 
the  particular  synapses  has  been  diminished  by  the  frequent  pass- 
age of  the  impulse,  the  intense  psychic  effect  no  longer  appears. 
By  voluntary  reinforcement,  however,  impulses  may  be  so  directed 
through  the  complex  systems  of  high  intelligence  that  neither  the 
resistance  nor  the  resulting  intensity  is  appreciably  reduced.  In  this 
case  the  reinforcement  merely  functions  with  greater  economy. 

As  distinguishing  the  hypothetical  stages  of  interest  and  result- 
ing from  the  successive  development  of  neural  arcs  in  systems  of 
increasing  complexity,  three  forms  of  reinforcement  are  implied: 
instinctive  reaction  to  pleasure-pain,  direct  reproduction  of  neural  sys- 
tems associated  by  temporal  contiguity,  and  divergent  reproduction  of 
such  systems  through  derived  associations.  Certain  implications  of 
each  form  affecting  the  expression  of  interest  may  be  briefly  noted. 

Highly  stimulating  objects,  whether  novel  or  sharply  contrasted 
with  the  object  in  consciousness,  can  compel  attention  at  all  ages. 
In  earliest  childhood  such  objects  produce  and  perfect  the  reflex  move- 
ments whose  control  serves  later  to  reinforce  complex  movements  of  the 
ideo-motor  variety.  Yet  the  state  of  involuntary  attention  result- 
ing almost  entirely  from  organic  factors,  in  which  they  first  appear, 
is  without  ideal  reinforcement  and  consequently  of  very  brief  duration. 
Some  form  of  reinforcement  must  exist  to  explain  the  tenure  of  such 
objects  for  even  the  fixation  time,  and  this  is  found  in  sensations  of 
pleasure-pain.  Reinforced  by  such  sensations — whether  of  sight, 
sound,  taste,  movement,  et  al. — attention  persists  and  reveals  the 
forward  reference  tendency  apparent  in  higher  forms  of  interest. 
In  the  case  of  mere  sensory  stimulation,  the  fact  of  attention  may  be 
ascribed  to  interest  in  the  exercise  of  the  organ  stimulated.  The 
stage  of  interest  in  such  phenomena  is  accordingly  quasi-organic  or 
1  Ibid. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  25 

experimental.  It  is  distinguished  by  the  vagueness  or  absence  of 
conscious  aim. 

Attention  resulting  from  the  factors  of  the  cerebral  level  implies 
preperception,  the  ability  to  identify  the  object  before  consciousness 
with  a  mental  image  gained  from  former  experience  with  it.  Here 
the  reinforcement  results  from  association  by  temporal  contiguity, 
which  McDougall  states  "is  the  one  and  only  form  of  association 
that  can  be  explained  physiologically."1  Attention  to  any  one 
element  of  the  ideal  disposition  tends  to  reproduce  the  whole  of  a 
former  experience.  Selection  from  incoming  impressions  is  guided 
by  the  reinforcement  of  such  impressions  as  are  almost  entirely 
familiar.  The  constellation  of  mental  states  before  the  situation 
has  entered  consciousness  seeks  control  by  diffusion  of  energy  in  the 
direction  suggested  by  the  most  familiar  element  in  the  situation. 
Suggestion  is  particularly  potent  in  the  direction  of  interest  because 
of  the  ease  with  which  familiar  elements  are  dissociated.  Likewise 
imitation  of  other's  acts  and  reproduction  of  the  child's  own  activi- 
ties direct  interest  very  largely  and  cause  certain  relationships  to  be 
taken-for-granted,  thereby  increasing  the  scope  of  interest.  The 
stage  implied  by  these  processes  may  be  termed  the  imitative  or 
social  stage  as  indicating  tendencies  to  reproduce  familiar  experi- 
ence. It  is  distinguished  by  complications  of  experimental  interest 
resulting  from  social  relationships.  The  characteristic  aim  is  social 
superiority. 

Reinforcement  of  voluntary  attention  is  due  largely  to  the  complex 
interrelations  in  the  neural  systems  of  the  frontal  areas.  The  afferent 
impulse,  instead  of  reproducing  readily  the  constellations  associated 
with  it  in  time,  diverges  into  a  number  of  sub-systems  related  to  the 
constellation.  A  conflict  of  tendencies  results  which  can  be  resolved 
only  by  conscious  deliberation.  This  successive  inhibition  of  various 
means  continues  until  an  element  of  experience  is  revived  which 
contains  the  solution  or  until  the  search  fails.  In  the  former  case 
intermediate  elements  are  referred  to  the  ideo-motor  processes  and 
reinforced  by  temporal  associations.  In  the  latter  case,  the  search 
is  abandoned  until  the  mind  is  recalled  to  the  dilemma  by  dissatis- 
faction in  the  failure  to  control.  In  affective  terms,  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  the  process  is  desire  for  control  through  closer  contact 
with  reality  as  represented  by  previous  experience.  Expression  of 
interest   in   this   deliberative   stage   is   characterized   by   mediation 

1  Op.  cit,  p.  135. 


26  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

between  organic  impulse  and  rational  judgment.  Sacrifice  of  either 
results  in  a  repression  of  interest,  the  subject  for  a  later  discussion. 
F.  M.  Alexander's  recent  work,  Man's  Supreme  Inheritance,  suggests 
that  the  phenomena  of  repression  result  from  dissociation  of  the 
'higher'  from  the  'lower'  nervous  centers.  The  implication  is 
clearly  that  integration  of  neural  function  is  essential  to  the  most 
effective  expenditure  of  effort,  and  the  normal  distribution  of  interest 
which  such  expenditure  implies.  Hence  the  deliberative  stage  of 
interest  is  distinguished  by  the  variety  of  attitudes  in  which  interest 
may  find  expression  because  of  the  numerous  constellations  in  which 
thought  of  the  given  situation  may  occur.  It  is  also  marked  by  the 
tendency  to  act  in  certain  interests  which  have  become  habitual. 

In  summary,  it  may  be  observed  that  the  reference  to  certain 
more  prominent  physiological  factors  of  interest  has  been  developed  by 
the  three-fold  classification  proposed  (Chapter  One,  4).  Under 
these  heads  both  external  and  internal  conditions  are  related  to  the 
most  conspicuous  phenomena  of  interest  in  such  manner  as  should 
best  help  the  discussion  to  follow.  Abstract  and  rather  arbitrary 
classification  is  necessary  in  order  to  emphasize  common  elements 
in  various  explanations  of  the  same  phenomena,  hence  none  but  the 
most  general  features  are  examined.  Otherwise  it  would  be  possible 
to  select  from  the  wide  field  of  studies  to  determine  variations  in  the 
behavior  of  individuals  and  groups  which  this  discussion  is  forced 
largely  to  ignore.  From  the  evidence  at  present  available  the  chief 
characteristic  of  such  mental  variations  is  their  continuity.  The 
intermediate  stages  are  far  commoner  than  the  extreme  types. 
Variations  in  the  development  of  interest,  perhaps  the  least  constant 
of  all  mental  traits,  can  therefore  be  recorded  only  within  the  limits 
of  general  tendencies. 


Chapter  Three.  Development  of  Instinctive  Interest 

The  science  of  genetic  psychology  postulates  that  mature  behavior 
is  largely  traceable  to  original  instinctive  endowment.  Behavior  at 
various  stages  is  explained  by  reference  to  the  stage  preceding.  It  is 
clear,  however,  that  such  explanation  is  as  yet  by  no  means  complete, 
nor  can  it  be  until  an  inventory  of  native  traits  is  made  to  tally  at  all 
points  with  the  main  tendencies  of  later  conduct.  Pending  scientific 
selection  and  description  of  such  traits  and  tendencies,  this  complete 
explanation  is  clearly  Utopian.  One  is  thus  forced  to  rely  upon 
opinion  both  in  selecting  instinctive  traits  and  in  distinguishing  those 
later  tendencies  which  the  traits  serve  to  explain.  The  abundance 
of  expert  opinion  regarding  continuity  of  instinctive  development 
must  be  sifted  by  the  most  reliable  evidence  available,  which  is 
probably  to  be  found  in  the  many  accurate  descriptions  of  particular 
responses  under  various  prescribed  conditions. 

Waddle  states  in  this  connection:  "It  is  self  evident  that  most  of 
the  interests  are  conditioned  directly  by  instinctive  emotional  com- 
plexes. We  cannot  understand  or  anticipate  interests,  then,  without 
an  understanding  of  their  inborn  correlates."1  For  this  reason  it  is 
easier  to  identify  and  classify  the  more  constant  varieties  of  interest 
when  the  behavior  examined  is  closely  restricted  to  activities  of 
biological  origin,  for  here  conformity  is  greatest.  Yet  it  is  important 
that  this  approach  should  not  obscure  the  distinction  it  is  intended  to 
emphasize;  namely,  the  distinction  between  the  instinctive  basis 
itself  as  inferred  from  the  child's  responses  and  later  interest-behavior 
which  includes  other  than  instinctive  elements.  The  instinct  for 
mere  motor  activities,  for  example,  while  explaining  the  fact  of 
interest  in  movements  does  little  to  explain  the  nature  of  such  interest 
as  determined  by  the  various  ends  sought.  Yet  the  more  nearly  cer- 
tain broad  classes  of  interests,  such  as  are  indicated  by  the  types  before 
described,  can  be  related  to  universal  tendencies  of  instincts,  the 
easier  is  it  to  mark  off  broad  types  of  behavior  in  which  related  varie  ties 
of  interest  can  be  identified.     To  assist  this  relation  of  interest  to 

1  "Child  Psychology,"  p.  112. 

27 


28  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

instinct,  the  present  discussion  ignores  social  and  other  environmental 
elements  of  interest  so  far  as  possible,  by  considering  only  such  expres- 
sions as  occur  in  solitary  play.  Of  these  the  most  useful  accounts 
are  probably  found  in  such  familiar  works  as  Chamberlain's  The 
Child,  Groos'  The  Play  of  Man,1  and  Preyer's  The  Mind  of  the  Child. 
More  particularized,  and  somewhat  more  scientific  accounts  of  special 
forms  of  play  are  equally  familiar  in  the  various  child-study  pub- 
lications. It  is  unfortunate  that  space  forbids  any  description  of 
evidence  upon  which  a  conclusive  study  of  instinctive  interest  must 
rely.  For  this  the  reader  is  referred  to  certain  original  sources  which 
illustrate  the  method  of  approach  herein  described. 

This  restriction  of  the  field  to  largely  non-social  behavior  is  helpful 
in  confining  the  discussion  to  interests  of  the  experimental  stage.  It  has 
however  the  disadvantage  of  excluding  the  phenomena  of  imitation  ap- 
pearing in  the  same  period  of  development,  which  are  reserved  for  later 
treatment  as  explaining  social  modifications  of  instinctive  interest.2 
Experimental  interests  find  fullest  expression  in  play  for  the  reason 
that  playful  activities  are  performed  per  se.  Their  relation  to  instinc- 
tive tendencies  is  therefore  most  close.  Hence  differences  in  type  of 
instinctive  function  may  serve  to  distinguish  corresponding  forms  of 
play  in  which  the  type  of  interest  is  determined  most  directly  by  the 
instinctive  function.  Related  varieties  of  interest  can  most  readily 
be  identified  in  these  forms  of  play  because  of  their  development  from 
a  common  instinctive  source. 

In  most  general  terms,  these  types  of  instinctive  function  are  two, 
the  sensory  and  motor.  By  attaching  sensory  qualities  to  various 
objects  instinct  facilitates  the  satisfaction  of  organic  needs,3  and  these 
responses  to  agreeable  stimuli  soon  constitute  the  primary  form  of 
conscious  play.  The  feeling  of  satisfaction  or  dissatisfaction  is  the 
source  of  all  interest  which  later  includes  the  progressive  forms  of 
feeling,  affect,  impulse,  and  desire.4  Playful  sensory  exercise  may  thus 
be  selected  as  the  form  of  behavior  which  results  most  directly  from 
interest  of  the  intrinsic  type,  and  the  various  qualities  possessed  by  the 
stimuli  of  these  sensations  may  accordingly  be  regarded  as  varieties  of 
such  interest.     Instinctive  motor  activity  of  a  sort  is  implied  in  all 

1  Pp.  7-118  of  this  work  are  closely  followed  in  the  remaining  discussion  of  this 
chapter  and  pp.  173-334  in  that  of  the  chapter  following. 

*  I.e.,  the  transition  from  private  to  public  interest,  cf.  Baldwin,  op.  cit.,  p.  503. 

»  cf.  W.  Mitchell:  op.  cit.,  p.  194. 

4  Wundt:  Philosophische  Studien,  6:  380. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  29 

sensations,  which  reveals  an  "instinctive  manipulation  of  things, 
movements  to  or  from  them,  persistence  against  obstacles,  and  the  rest- 
lessness that  goes  with  a  sense  of  want."1  The  pleasure  of  kinasthetic 
sensation  soon  produces  such  movements  playfully  as  ends  in  them- 
selves together  with  playful  movements  of  foreign  bodies.  This 
second  form  of  play  is  the  logical  province  of  experimental  practical 
interest.  In  addition  to  these  instinctive  functions,  a  third  may  be 
predicated  to  account  for  the  playful  exercise  of  mental  powers  that 
reveals  an  experimental  cognitive  interest.  This  function  first  appears 
in  the  instinctive  adjustment  of  sense  organs  to  secure  a  fuller  sen- 
sation. Its  later  activity  in  such  plays  as  require  the  exercise  of  atten- 
tion, imagination,  and  reason,  as  in  guessing  games,  etc.  is  sufficiently 
great  to  justify  the  third  division.  These  three  progressive  forms 
of  play  activity  thus  closely  related  to  distinguishable  instinctive 
functions  and  clearly  evident  in  all  children's  behavior  require  further 
brief  comment  in  turn.  The  purpose  of  this  comment  is  to  indicate 
hypothetically  the  conclusions  which  a  truly  scientific  study  of  in- 
stinctive interest  might  reach  both  as  to  the  gradual  differentiation 
of  types  of  interest  in  this  behavior  and  the  more  conspicuous  varieties 
in  each  type. 

The  conspicuous  varieties  of  intrinsic  interest  may  be  supposed  to 
extend  from  undifferentiated  pleasure-pain  sensations  through  such 
qualities  as  intensity,  novelty,  contrast,  movement,  repetition, 
rhythm, — and  to  culminate  in  states  of  aesthetic  absorption.2  While 
the  order  is  mainly  conjectural,  it  is  supported  by  such  accounts 
of  progressive  response  to  the  various  sensations  as  is  offered  by 
Groos.  Intensity,  novelty,  and  contrast  are  qualities  which  serve  to 
explain  expressions  of  interest  in  all  sensations  but  chiefly  in  those  of 
contact,  sight,  sound,  and  smell.3  Movement  is  of  course  here  confined 
to  visual  sensations  and  results  from  the  biological  importance  of 
attention  to  changes  in  environment.  Interest  in  repetition  appears 
chiefly  in  productive  sound  sensations.  Rhythm  as  observed  in  the 
movements  of  others  is  interesting  on  account  of  the  muscular  inner- 
vations involved.  Rhythmic  sounds,  from  the  watch-tick  to  band 
music,  and  melody  at  about  four  years,  both  excite  a  lively  interest 

1  Mitchell,  op.  cit.,  p.  105. 

1  Absorption  is  here  interpreted  as  originally  defined  by  Th.  Lipps :  Zur  Ein- 
fuhlung,  Leipsig,  1913.  It  implies  absorption  in  the  stimulus,  not  with  the  stim- 
lus  as  in  the  fixed  idea. 

*  cf.  Preyer:  op.  cit.,  Chapter  I. 


30  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

which  is  due  largely  to  mild  hypnosis.1  In  absorption  this  phe- 
nomenon is  more  apparent  and  is  treated  elsewhere  in  connection  with 
inner  imitation. 

The  gradual  transition  to  the  practical  type  may  be  illustrated 
by  interest  in  the  production  of  vocal  sounds.  From  the  mere  acoustic 
sensation  interest  develops  in  overcoming  the  difficulty  of  articulation. 
This  evolution  of  motor  from  sensory  interest  is  typical  of  all  playful 
behavior.  From  this  point  the  normal  varieties  of  practical  interest 
may  be  tentatively  listed  as  conquest-of-obstacles,  control,  pursuit, 
combativeness,  outer-imitation  or  reproduction,  and  rivalry, — all 
culminating  in  achievement  of  highly  particularized  nature  which  is 
characteristic  of  all  practical  interest.  As  best  expressed  in  playful 
bodily  movements  and  movements  of  external  objects,  interest  in 
conquest-of-obstacles  appears  in  early  attempts  to  sit,  stand,  or  walk. 
This  comes  rapidly  to  include  control  and  pursuit  motives2  as  in  passive 
movements  of  coasting  or  in  runs,  hill-climbing,  and  hide-and-seek 
games.3  Interest  in  control  often  renders  such  vocations  as  seaman- 
ship, fire  fighting,  and  horse  racing  most  attractive  during  the  years 
9-13. 4  Combative  instincts  bear  much  the  same  relation  to  interest 
in  many  forms  of  destructive  or  analytic  play  as  outer  imitation  bears 
to  constructive  interest  in  mud-pies,  snow-men,  and  even  in  collections.5 
Rivalry  is  evident  in  such  collecting  as  in  all  behavior  at  the  appropri- 
ate age.  Its  treatment  as  allied  with  interest  in  superiority  is  deferred 
to  the  later  discussion  of  social  interest.  On  the  whole  this  relation 
between  intrinsic  and  practical  interest  suggests  the  biological  expla- 
nation of  a  familiar  fact;  namely,  that  motivation  consists  in  the 
response  to  intrinsic  stimulation  which  provokes  voluntary  effort 
toward  a  desired  end.  Such  effort  is  rendered  efficient  by  practical 
interest  in  achievement. 

Experimental  varieties  of  cognitive  interest,  as  appearing  in  play- 
ful exercise  of  mental  powers,  may  occur  in  recognition,  expectancy, 
reproduction,  reconstruction,  curiosity,  experiment,  and — less  clearly 
observed  at  this  stage — investigation  and  judgment.  As  Kirkpatrick 
states,  "If  interests  depended  only  upon  the  biologically  useful  in- 

1  qf.  Gates:  "Musical  Interests  of  Children,"  Journal  of  Pedagogy,  2:  265-284. 

*  "No  activity  is  interesting  unless  it  follows  the  pursuit  pattern,"  Jennings: 
"  Suggestions  of  Modern  Science,"  p.  164. 

*  cf.  J.  Lee,  op.  tit.,  Chapter  26. 
*cf.  Crosswell,  op.  tit. 

6  cf.  Groos,  op.  tit.,  pp.  99ff.  and  Burk  "Children's  Collections,"  Ped.  Sem., 
7:  179-207. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  31 

stincts,  there  could  be  but  little  development  of  intellectual  interest."1 
Yet  it  is  only  by  instinctive  exercise  of  mental  powers  in  expression 
of  practical  interest  that  capacity  for  the  so  called  "higher"  interests  is 
developed.  Interest  in  the  "warmth  and  intimacy"  of  mere  recogni- 
tion and  also  in  expectancy  may  be  termed  wholly  instinctive.2  The 
memorizing  and  reproduction  of  nonsense  syllables,  etc.  is  largely  of 
practical  interest  in  the  mere  achievement,  though  some  cognitive 
interest  is  implied.  Interest  in  playful  use  of  the  imagination  appears 
in  reconstruction  of  past  experience  for  indulgence  in  all  forms  of  make- 
believe,  as  in  stories  told  by  and  to  children.3  Curiosity,  while  at 
first  seeking  novel  impressions  rather  than  meaning  for  later  use, 
marks  the  rise  of  real  cognitive  interest  in  the  exercise  of  reason.4 
In  plays  with  riddles,  puzzles,  tormenting  animals,  etc.  interest  passes 
from  the  post  hoc  to  the  propter  hoc5  and  still  later  to  plays  with  the 
feelings  as  in  games  of  self-control  and  endurance  and  also  in  ghost 
stories.6  Purposeful  investigation  and  judgment  involving  higher 
physiological  development  need  merely  be  mentioned  as  later  forms  of 
cognitive  interest.  The  significant  feature  of  cognitive  interests 
is  their  brief  duration  in  the  pure  type.  When  once  expression  is 
fairly  under  way  other  elements  enter  in  to  render  the  interest  practical 
or  even  intrinsic. 

These  instinctive  or  experimental  varieties  of  interest  expressed  in 
comparatively  universal  forms  of  behavior  are  next  to  be  considered 
in  their  social  complexity — as  modified  by  processes  of  environmental 
adjustment. 

1  "  Individual  in  the  Making,"  p.  18. 

2  Groos,  op.  cit.,  p.  125,  finds  humor  resulting  from  impeded  recognition. 

3  J.  Lee,  op.  cit.,  passim;  Barnes:  "  Studies  in  Education,"  I  and  II. 

*cf.  J.  Welton:  "Psychology  of  Education,"  p.  209;  and  Henderson:  "Prin- 
ciples of  Education,"  p.  254. 

6  Davis:  "Interest  in  the  Causal  Idea,"  Child  Study  Monthly,  2:  226. 

•  Groos,  op.  cit.,  pp.  169ff.  and  Brewer:  "Instinctive  Interest  in  Bear  and  Wolf 
Stories,"  Amer.  Ass'n.  for  Advance  of  Science,  Proceed.,  XVII. 


Chapter  Four.    Social  Modification  of  Interest 

We  have  here  to  consider  a  second  stage  in  the  normal  develop- 
ment of  interest.  Yet  while  the  distinction  between  stages  is  largely 
genetic,  as  implying  progressive  development  of  primary  biological 
tendencies,  the  present  discussion  must  also  trace  from  early  child- 
hood certain  environmental  influences  which  modify  these  tendencies. 
Such  social  influences  as  are  implied  by  various  forms  of  imitation 
and  suggestion,  both  modify  and  select  organic  impulses  at  every 
age.  It  is  accordingly  important  to  note  the  effect  of  such  influences 
upon  the  expression  of  adolescent  interests  and  the  consequent  modifi- 
cation of  types  as  previously  described. 

The  significance  of  this  new  approach  lies  in  the  nature  of  the 
learning  process.  For  the  infant  the  purpose  achieved  and  the  knowl- 
edge gained  are  purely  incidental  products  of  the  course  of  interesting 
action,  performed  experimentally  for  its  own  sake.  Instinct  provides 
the  occasion  and  interest  initiates  the  action.  Similarly  when  the 
actions  of  others  are  reproduced,  there  must  be  postulated  an  acquired 
instinct1  for  imitation  consisting  of  a  fusion  of  such  organic  instincts 
as  respond  to  occasions  possessing  qualities  known  as  suggestive.2 
Imitation  implies  that  another's  actions  are  of  interest  in  themselves. 
Their  reproduction  by  the  observer  leads  to  recognition  of  the  purpose 
and  so  to  interest  in  the  result.  He  thus  rises  from  sensory  to  percep- 
tual imitation  and,  when  the  model  is  absent,  to  conceptual  imitation. 
Hence  imitation  regarded  as  a  "social"  instinct  modifies  experimental 
interests  by  rendering  certain  actions  habitual  and  causing  their  ends  to 
be  taken-for-granted,  so  that  learning  proceeds  with  greater  economy. 
Such  modification  occurs  chiefly  through  the  agencies  of  inner  imita- 
tion or  sympathetic  insight,  outer  imitation,  and  suggestion,  which 
facilitates  both.    Each  of  these  agencies  may  be  briefly  noticed  in  turn. 

Keatinge  classifies  imitative  behavior  under  the  headings  of 
instinctive,   conscious,  and  purposive, — the  last  including  acts  per- 

4  Not  an  inherited  instinct,    cf.  W.  McDougall,  "Social  Psychology,"  pp. 
90ff ;  Ribot,  "  Psychologie  des  Sentiments,"  note  1,  p.  238. 
*  cf.  Keatinge 's  list,  "Suggestion  in  Education,"  p.  56. 

32 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  33 

formed  per  se,  for  practical  ends,  and  for  reasons  of  self-esteem.1 
Instinctive  or  inner  imitation  differs  from  other  forms  both  in  function 
and  in  earlier  appearance.  Its  function,  in  a  word,  is  to  bring  about 
conformity  to  certain  situations  by  inhibiting  instinctive  tendencies  to 
dominate  them.  Such  reactions  are  thus  largely  adaptive,  as  contrasted 
with  the  aggressive  varieties  of  interest  hitherto  considered.  These 
phenomena  of  instinctive  imitation  are  conveniently  classified  as 
fellow-feeling  with  man  (einfiihlung),  fellow-feeling  with  nature  and 
absorption  in  the  object  (einsfiihlung).2  Since  the  process  in  each 
of  these  forms  is  relatively  similar,  the  first  alone  may  serve  to  explain 
the  rise  of  interest  in  conformity.  Fellow-feeling  arises  from  the 
infant's  response  to  differences  in  personality.  "As  early  as  the 
second  month  it  distinguishes  its  mother's  or  its  nurse's  touch  in 
the  dark.  It  learns  characteristic  methods  of  holding,  taking  up, 
patting,  and  adapts  itself  to  these  personal  variations.  It  is  quite  a 
different  thing  from  the  child's  behavior  toward  things  which  are  not 
persons."3  By  this  awareness  the  child  distinguishes  between  himself 
and  others.  Certain  feelings  associated  with  self  are  then  attributed 
to  others  when  they  perform  corresponding  movements.  Thus  feelings 
of  self  and  of  other  are  mutually  dependent.  The  adaptive  self  shares 
in  the  personality  of  others  by  assuming  their  attitudes  so  far  as  these 
have  meaning  from  his  own  experience.  He  appreciates  differences  in 
such  attitudes  by  virtue  of  his  practical  interest.  To  certain  attitudes, 
those  of  his  elders,  he  must  at  times  submit.  Those  of  his  juniors,  he 
may  usually  dominate.  Practical  interest  in  situations  beyond  his 
control  is  best  realized  by  conformity  and  in  other  situations  by 
aggression.  The  resulting  action  in  childhood  is  merely  the  motor 
expression  of  a  certain  combination  of  elements  and  is  entirely  without 
moral  significance.4  Yet  moral  interest  can  only  arise  from  the  need 
of  conformity  to  various  social  situations.  The  further  development 
of  this  interest  in  conformity  may  now  be  traced. 

At  about  the  fourth  year  the  child  learns  to  identify  his  own 
reactions  to  situations  beyond  his  control  with  others'  reactions  to 
situations  within  his  control.  He  recognizes  that  certain  of  his  own 
interests  are  shared  by  others.  Conscious  recognition  of  his  own 
interest  as  seeking  certain  ends  must  allow  others  the  privilege  of  seek- 

1  Ibid.,  p.  86 

2  Most  satisfactorily  perhaps  by  Baldwin,  Lipps,  and  Mitchell,  op.  cit. 
s  Baldwin,  "Mental  Development  in  Child  and  Race,"  p.  335. 

4  See  Lee,  op.  cit.,  p.  240  regarding  "the  moral  necessity  of  disobedience." 


34  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

I  ing  the  same  ends.  At  this  stage  his  acts  become  socially  significant. 
When  the  legitimate  interests  of  •  others  are  opposed,  he  perceives 
that  the  other  must  feel  as  he  does  in  such  cases,  and  his  sense  of 
justice  is  accordingly  offended.  By  fellow-feeling  with  the  group 
he  takes  over  their  interests  as  his  own  and  accepts  their  standards 
for  himself  to  some  degree.  Here  begins  the  compromise  of  the 
social  life, — the  adaptation  of  the  group  to  his  personal  interests  and 
the  adjustment  of  these  interests  to  the  standards  of  the  group.1 
This  community  of  interest  explains  loyalty  as  the  pursuit  of  one's 
own  interests  when  these  are  sought  by  the  group  as  a  whole.  As 
the  group  is  progressively  widened  from  the  family  to  the  playmate, 
the  gang,  the  school,  the  town,  etc.,  each  new  interest  is  first  opposed 
by  and  then  admitted  to  the  fellowship  of  interests  which  at  the  time 
have  become  habitual.  This  equality  of  group  interests  implies  the 
moral  sense.  Loyalty  to  group  involves  some  sacrifice  of  conflicting 
personal  interest.  The  satisfactions  of  successful  conformity  to 
group  interests  make  the  individual  reluctant  to  aggress  when  the 
opportunity  offers.  Fidelity  to  certain  personal  standards  of  conduct 
is  the  condition  of  all  group  membership,  which  practical  interest  in 
superiority  obliges  him  to  retain.  Such  recognition  of  common 
interests  further  indicates  the  rise  of  purposeful  conduct  since  the 
type  of  interest  is  determined  by  the  social  requirements  of  the 
situation.  Whereas  the  expression  of  experimental  interests  is  directed 
by  necessity,  social  interest  is  largely  regulated  by  success. 

Such  interest  in  conformity  is  well  illustrated  by  the  formation 
of  clubs.  The  subordination  of  the  individual  is  complete  as  is  also 
his  obedience  to  the  "natural"  leader,  who  holds  his  supremacy  by 
power  to  express  such  interests  as  are  most  intense  within  the  group 
as  a  whole.  Membership  implies  a  common  sentiment  against  the 
offender,  sympathy  for  the  unfortunate  members,  and  the  preserving 
of  group  identity  by  special  insignia,  conventions,  etc.  Such  deference 
to  the  group  becomes  universalized  in  fashion, — a  conformity  to  the 
dictates  of  society  in  the  large.  Activities  performed  by  the  group 
intensify  interest  more  than  proportionately  to  the  aggregate  of 
individual  interests  expressed.  Hence  convention  requires  certain 
attitudes   receiving   group   sanction   to   be   taken-f or-granted ;   thus 

1  This  compromise  is  termed  by  Baldwin  "the  interest  of  learning."  "It  brings 
about  through  imitation,  absorption,  and  trial,  the  progressive  modification  of 
personal  habit  in  conformity  to  developing  social  ends."  Thought  and  Things,  III, 
p.  124. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  35 

modifying    to    some    degree    the    natural   expression   of   individual 
interest. 

Returning  to  the  conscious  and  purposive  forms  of  outer  imitation, 
we  have  to  note  the  process  by  which  certain  experimental  interests 
are  selected  for  continued  expression  in  the  group.  This  process 
differs  from  the  fellow-feeling  just  considered  in  that  reproduction 
of  another's  actions  does  not  imply  reproduction  of  his  thought. 
Such  acts  as  are  consciously  reproduced  are  performed  as  a  means  of 
greater  achievement  and  hence  of  greater  social  superiority.  Aggres- 
sive attitudes  are  the  rule  and  adaptive  attitudes  are  taken  only 
when  such  are  necessary  for  continued  self-expression.  Yet  with 
theoretical  difference  in  function,  the  effects  of  both  imitative  processes 
are  similar  in  that  each  gives  rise  to  aggressive  and  adaptive  interests. 
Hence  inner  and  outer  imitation  are  complementary,  are  instinctive 
in  origin,  and  develop  simultaneously.  Some  examples  of  experi- 
mental practical  interests  as  expressed  in  group  play  may  serve  to 
illustrate  this  selective  function  of  outer  imitation  more  clearly. 

Participation  in  playful  or  angry  contests  seldom  appears  before 
the  third  year  and  then  usually  in  the  form  of  feeble  wrestling,  yet  a 
two  year  old  shows  pleasure  in  striking  someone  who  pretends  to  be 
hurt.1  Shortly  after  the  third  year  this  interest  in  superiority  is 
revealed  in  all  group  play.  Wrestling,  shoving,  racing,  and  all  kinds 
of  competitive  games  show  that  the  fight  is  an  end  in  itself.2  The  same 
interest  lies  in  all  resistance  to  authority,  contradiction  of  elders  and 
equals,  and  in  such  mental  contests  as  board  and  card  games  when 
the  element  of  chance  is  excluded.  In  games  of  pure  rivalry, 
the  fight  interest  is  heightened  by  the  feeling  of  jealousy.  Interest 
in  superiority  here  seeks  the  distinction  of  leadership;  first,  because 
others  want  it,  and  also  because  of  the  praise  which  recognition  of 
superiority  entails.  Emulation  differs  from  jealousy  in  that  admiration 
is  sought  rather  than  love  and  often  takes  the  form  of  boasting. 
"To  lift  heavier  weights,  to  throw  farther,  to  run  faster,  to  jump 
higher,  to  make  a  top  spin  longer,  to  stay  longer  under  water  .  .  . 
is  the  burning  wish  of  every  childish  heart."3  Other  varieties  of 
interest  in  superiority  occur  in  teasing  and  in  assuming  provocative 
attitudes  towards  those  who  may  not  be  insulted  by  words.4     Closely 

1  Groos,  op.  cit.,  p.  174. 

1  O'Shea,  "Interest  in  Childhood,"  Child  Study  Monthly,  11:  266-27S. 

*  Groos,  op.  cit.,  p.  199. 

4  cf.  Chamberlain,  op.  cit.,  pp.  262ff. 


36  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

related  is  interest  in  the  practical  joke.  The  perpetrator  has  interest 
first  in  superiority  to  and  then  in  fellow-feeling  with  the  victim. 

Such  familiar  behavior  emphasizes  the  significance  of  interest  in 
superiority,  the  social  expression  of  experimental  interest  in  achieve- 
ment. The  fact  that  in  children  this  interest  can  find  expression  only 
in  the  society  of  equals  renders  it  a  powerful  esprit  de  corps.  Thus 
even  the  aggressive  self  implies  an  indirect  group  interest.  Social 
recognition  requires  that  certain  personal  achievements  find  favor 
with  the  group,  and  aggressive  interests  so  sanctioned  tend  rapidly 
to  become  habitual,  largely  determining  the  child's  early  ambitions 
and  ideals.1  Outer  imitation  may  produce  interest  either  in  the  activ- 
ity itself  or  in  its  result.  The  former  involves  intellectual  experiment 
and  the  latter  rivalry.  Thus  while  outer  imitation,  like  fellow-feeling, 
requires  adaptation  to  group  interest  and  hence  the  pursuit  of  social  ends, 
its  chief  function  is  to  select  certain  aggressive  interests  which  in  certain 
situations  may  safely  be  pursued  to  the  end  of  personal  superiority. 

Before  considering  the  theoretical  effect  of  these  phenomena  upon 
the  expression  of  experimental  types  of  interest,  the  function  of 
suggestion  deserves  comment.  While  suggestion  no  doubt  offers  a 
fairly  adequate  explanation  of  all  imitative  behavior,  its  separate 
treatment  emphasizes  the  means  by  which  imitation  can  be  objectively 
controlled.  Various  qualities  which  render  an  idea  suggestive,  such 
as  mass,  break  in  continuity,  expectedness,  intelligibility,  and  pleasant- 
ness, are  common  to  varieties  of  experimental  interest.  These 
qualities  accordingly  render  any  activity  attractive,  and  the  instinc- 
tive response  thus  produced  accounts  for  imitation  no  less  than  other 
behavior.  Yet  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  suggested  imitative 
response  is  its  prepotency  over  other  more  habitual  responses.  Keat- 
inge's  definition  explains  this  prepotency  in  terms  of  interest-intensity : 
"A  suggestive  idea  is  one  which  exercises  a  disintegrating  (dissociative) 
influence  on  the  mind  in  such  a  way  that  critical  and  inhibitory  ideas 
are  rendered  ineffective.  .  .  The  suggestive  idea,  while  it  need 
not  be  independent  of  knowledge,  leads  straight  to  action  or 
belief."2  Hence  in  neural  terms  the  suggestive  idea  takes  possession 
either  by  directly  stimulating  involuntary  attention  through  sense 
appeal  or  by  such  non- voluntary  reinforcement  of  previous  dispositions 

1cf.  Darrah,  Popular  Sc.  Monthly,  53:88;  Monroe,  Education,  18:259;  Jegi, 
Trans.  Illinois  Society  for  Child  Study,  3:131-144;  Taylor,  Report  State  Sup' t  of 
N.  Y.,  1896;  Barnes,  Studies  in  Education,  passim. 

2  op.  cit.,  p.  54. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  37 

that  conflicting  tendencies  are  inhibited.  Certain  typical  conditions 
are  evident.  First,  an  idea  becomes  suggestive  when  its  very  remote- 
ness from  existing  ideas  is  the  fact  attended  to — witness  the  conjuror's 
movements  and  the  emphatic  statement  of  the  orator  who  "takes  his 
audience  by  storm."  Second,  the  idea  must  avoid  association  with 
conflicting  impressions  and  find  association  so  far  as  possible,  with 
favorable  impressions.  Also  while  the  suggestion  may  be  compatible 
with  prevalent  ideas,  it  must  avoid  over-emphasis.  The  effect  of 
certain  advertisements  and  of  much  class-room  advice  is  often  the 
opposite  of  the  effect  intended.  A  third  condition  is  the  subject's 
attitude  toward  the  suggester,  who  should  be  trusted,  loved,  or  feared. 
Confidence  and  love  imply  the  medium  of  common  interests,  which 
alone  tends  to  repress  unfavorable  associations.  Fear  carries  con- 
viction by  sheer  intensity  of  reinforcement.  While  the  complexities 
of  the  dissociative  process  in  suggestion  are  scarcely  intimated  by 
this  summary,  the  outline  should  indicate  the  role  of  suggestion  as  a 
factor  of  social  interest  and  something  as  to  its  relation  to  other 
factors  discussed  elsewhere.  It  should  also  be  noted  that,  however 
offered,  suggestion  assists  learning  only  in  so  far  as  the  suggested  im- 
pression is  confirmed  by  voluntary  effort  of  attention.  Otherwise,  as 
in  hypnosis,  interest  in  the  new  is  transient  and  ineffective  because 
unassociated  with  the  old. 

Behavioristic  studies  of  adolescent  interests  in  general  have  as  yet 
established  little  more  than  the  fact  that  such  interests  are  the  most 
diverse.  No  valid  criteria  exist  to  determine  the  relative  frequency 
of  various  nascent  social  interests.  All  attempts  to  correlate  such 
tendencies  with  instinctive  impulse  on  the  one  hand  and  with  mature 
behavior  on  the  other  must  consequently  rely  on  the  consensus  of 
theoretical  opinion.  To  this  end  the  simplest  course  will  be  to 
indicate  somewhat  schematically  such  sub-divisions  in  the  types  of 
instinctive  interest  as  must  in  theory  result  from  social  modifications 
outlined  in  this  chapter.  Theoretically,  then,  each  type  contains 
two  such  sub-divisions  distinguished  by  aggressive  and  adaptive  social 
attitudes, — the  former  implying  extrinsic  interest  in  the  situation 
itself  as  being  of  near  or  ultimate  usefulness,  and  the  latter  implying 
an  intrinsic  interest  in  thought  of  the  situation  as  being  of  such  a 
nature.1     Extrinsic  interest  thus  regards  the  situation  as  a  means  of 

1  Intrinsic  interest  should  not  be  confused  with  "purely  intrinsic"  interest,  the 
term  applied  to  the  unmodified  type  of  experimental  interest  in  mere  indulgence  of 
feeling.  The  distinctions  here  made  are  taken  directly  from  W.  Mitchell's  analysis, 
op.  cit.,  pp.  65-70. 


38  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

realizing  primary  interest  in  any  of  the  three  types  whose  end  may  be 
either  agreeable  feeling,  or  desirable  action,  or  meaning  applicable  to 
conduct.  Intrinsic  interest  regards  the  situation  as  an  end  on  account 
of  the  nature  of  the  feelings,  acts,  or  thoughts  immediately  involved. 
The  character  of  these  modifications  may  be  suggested  as  effecting 
each  type. 

As  applied  to  the  practical  type,  we  have  seen  that  individual 
interest  may  become  socialized  either  by  becoming  partly  identified 
with  that  of  the  group,  so  as  better  to  make  use  of  a  particular  situa- 
tion or  by  partial  conflict  with  that  of  the  group,  which  involves 
thought  of  the  situation  and  justice  to  the  interests  of  others  con- 
cerned. The  former  experience  expresses  the  extrinsic  or  purely 
practical  interest  in  the  utility  of  the  situation  as  means  to  an  end  and 
includes  such  aggressive  varieties  as  pursuit,  emulation,  rivalry,  et  al. 
The  latter  expresses  the  intrinsic  or  moral  interest  in  the  situation  as 
it  is  thought  or  as  an  end  in  itself,  and  includes  such  adaptive  varieties 
as  obedience,  loyalty,  self-control,  consistency  to  personal  standards, 
et  al.  This  interest  also  perceives  such  qualities  as  bravery,  deceit- 
fulness,  and  cowardice  as  these  affect  conduct,  for  this  is  a  strictly 
practical  consideration  when  applied  to  others. 

Cognitive  interest  in  a  perplexing  situation  instead  of  seeking  the 
acquirement  of  knowledge  as  such,  may  seek  to  understand  it  as 
affecting  future  conduct.  Interest  attempts  to  relate  the  situation 
to  habitual  experience  and  place  it  in  the  system  in  which  it  belongs, 
as  in  the  discovery  that  drunkards  may  be  good  men  and  preachers 
the  reverse.  Such  interest  of  the  extrinsic  sort  may  be  termed 
rational.  This  is  related  to  objects  as  real,  as  having  a  certain  iden- 
tity. When  the  intrinsic  interest  is  exclusively  vested  in  the  know- 
ledge itself,  it  may  be  termed  purely  theoretical.  It  implies  "interest 
in  a  truth  which  a  thought  claims  or  seeks."  This  close  relation 
between  moral  and  rational  interests  as  distinct  from  the  purely 
practical  and  theoretical,  suggests  the  normal  distribution  of  social 
interest  regardless  of  type.  The  latter  forms  may  represent  the 
survival  of  selected  experimental  interest  in  the  social  stage. 

Because  of  the  primacy  of  purely  intrinsic  interest  in  all  experience, 
the  intrinsic  elements  of  the  practical  and  cognitive  types  constitute 
social  modifications  of  the  purely  intrinsic  type.  When  absorbed 
in  a  situation — whether  in  landscape,  music,  or  drama — our  interest 
is  expressed  largely  in  the  indulgence  of  feeling,  and  this  element, 
the  aesthetic,  is  therefore  constant.     When  interest  seeks  only  abstrac- 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  39 

tion  from  reality,  the  experimental  interest  in  pure  sensation  is  con- 
tinued without  appreciable  change.  Yet  surrender  to  feelings  because 
of  their  relation  to  reality  implies  the  introduction  of  a  relatively 
extrinsic  element.  Thus  contemplation  of  the  character  of  Jesus 
may  produce  in  the  man  of  piety  a  state  of  absorption  in  which  his 
own  moral  interest  in  self-sacrifice  for  the  many  becomes  the  occasion 
for  the  affective  indulgence.  The  philosopher  may  in  the  same  in- 
stance be  absorbed  in  the  theoretical  significance  of  self-realization. 
Hence  the  subdivisions  of  the  purely  intrinsic  type  may  consist  of 
aesthetic,  moral,  and  theoretical  interests. 

Social  interests  imply  a  certain  degree  of  physical  maturity,  for 
one  reason  in  that  development  of  the  ductless  glands  is  connected 
with  control  of  emotional  reactions.  Hence  from  the  time  when 
aggressive  interests  are  first  to  some  degree  identified  with  adap- 
tive interests,  normal  development  implies  the  increasing  control  of 
the  latter  until  an  approximate  balance  is  reached.  Thereafter  be- 
havior is  directed  by  such  interests  as  are  rendered  habitual  by  success- 
ful expression  in  the  particular  environment.  Certain  phenonema 
of  such  expression  are  next  to  be  considered. 


Chapter  Five.     Social  Expression  of  Interest 

The  varieties  of  social  behavior  are  identical  with  life  itself  and 
as  such  defy  classification  by  means  hitherto  employed.  For 
this  reason  the  following  description  of  the  approach  to  a  study  of 
habitual  interest  makes  no  attempt  to  correlate  specific  phenomena, 
but  instead  seeks  to  indicate  certain  tendencies  that  govern  the  later 
expression  of  interests  already  distinguished.  More  concretely,  we 
are  to  consider  the  nature  of  certain  reactions  to  success  and  failure 
in  environmental  adjustment.  The  effect  of  these  reactions  is  under- 
stood to  determine  the  balance  between  aggressive  and  adaptive 
interests  by  which  habitual  attitudes  and,  in  a  sense,  character  become 
established. 

That  all  growth  and  hence  all  behavior  depends  essentially  upon 
the  interaction  of  aggressive  and  adaptive  attitudes  variously  defined, 
is  well  supported  by  both  scientific  and  empirical  evidence.1  While 
the  two  attitudes  are  present  as  common  elements  in  most  situations, 
there  are  other  situations  in  which  one  attitude  may  find  expression 
to  the  practical  exclusion  of  the  other.  The  freshman  from  a  provin- 
cial high  school  must  for  the  most  part  conform  to  the  new  demands 
of  university  life.  In  his  senior  year  aggressive  interests  may  seek 
more  fully  to  realize  personal  superiority:  yet  their  fullest  expression 
is  resisted  by  various  social  influences  whose  existence  has  been 
taken-for-granted.  This  familiar  experience  suggests  that  the  ratio 
of  aggressive  and  adaptive  interests  explaining  the  individual's  behav- 
ior in  particular  situations,  is  determined  by  the  degree  of  such 
resistance. 

The  use  of  the  term  "resistance"  in  connection  with  the  expres- 
sion of  social  interest  at  once  suggests  the  application  of  psychoan- 
alytic theory.  Quite  apart  from  its  still  discredited  practice  and 
most  of  the  sex  diagnosis  involved,2  the  central  notion  of  this  theory 
contains  much  of  approved  value.  Such  indirect  applications  as 
have  been  made  in  the  fields  of  industry  by  the  late  Carleton  Parker 
and  A.  H.  Southard  among  others,  in  medicine  by  numerous  British 

1  cf.  Brewer:  "The  Vocational  Guidance  Movement,"  p.  105. 

2  cf.  McDougall,  "Social  Psychology,"  pp.  394ff. 

40 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  41 

and  American  psychiatrists  chiefly  in  connection  with  war  neuroses, 
and  still  more  recently  in  education  by  the  English  writers,  H.  C. 
Cameron,1  C.  W.  Kimmins,2  and  St.  G.  F.  Pitt3 — have  largely  vin- 
dicated the  underlying  principles  as  helpful  approaches  to  problems 
of  social  readjustment.  It  may  further  be  noted  that  the  effect  of 
many  excellent  critical  treatments  has  been4  to  remove  the  arbi- 
trary distinction  formerly  made  between  normal  and  abnormal  cases. 
While  unquestionably  the  value  of  the  remedy  depends  upon  the 
abnormality  of  the  case,  it  is  widely  recognized  that  the  same  pheno- 
mena appear  in  the  so  called  normal  cases  to  some  degree.  Confi- 
dence is  therefore  justified  in  such  clearly  operative  principles  as  apply 
to  the  social  expression  of  interest. 

Fundamental  in  this  notion  of  the  unconscious  is  the  view  that  all 
mental  activity  implies  a  life  impulse,  variously  defined,  which  is 
the  force  that  reveals  itself  as  interest.  "It  is  with  the  utilization, 
expression,  and  application  of  interest  that  the  unconscious  continu- 
ally concerns  itself.  "5  By  virtue  of  this  biological  source,  the  interest 
thus  seeking  expression  is  essentially  instinctive  and  hence  aggres- 
sive in  nature.  In  situations  beyond  control,  the  expression  of  such 
interest  is  clearly  impossible.  It  is  resisted  by  the  actual  conditions 
that  exist  or,  in  a  word,  by  reality.  From  this  dilemma  there  are  two 
means  of  escape;  either  the  resistance  may  be  overcome  by  such 
modification  of  interest  as  will  bear  social  expression  and  hence  con- 
form to  reality,  or  the  resistance  is  not  overcome.  The  anti-social 
interest  persists  in  the  unconscious  at  variance  with  reality,  and 
conduct  is  out  of  alignment.  Such  forgotten  "repressed"  interest  is 
thus  a  source  of  mental  unrest  which  seeks  comfort  in  the  false  assump- 
tion that  its  ends  have  actually  been  realized.  The  unsuccessful 
portrait  painter,  for  instance,  persuades  himself  that  he  has  achieved 
a  master  piece, — by.  way  of  compensation  for  his  failure.  These 
phenomena  of  resistance  and  of  compensation  need  to  be  considered 
in  slightly  greater  detail  as  affecting  habitual  expression  of  interest. 

1  "  The  Nervous  Child." 
1 "  Children's  Dreams." 

•  "  The  Purpose  of  Education." 

4  For  example,  the  series  of  articles  published  in  the  London  Times  Educational 
Supplement  commencing  May  27,  1920. 

*  M.  Nicoll,  op.  cit.,  p,  83;  see  also  W.  A.  White,  "  Mechanisms  of  Character 
Formation,"  pp.  118ff.  for  distinction  between  interest  in  directed  and  undirected 
thinking. 


42  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

The  fact  has  been  emphasized  that  the  experience  of  resistance 
overcome  is  the  occasion  for  all  learning.1  Opposition  to  ideas  taken- 
for-granted  means  the  thwarting  of  an  expectation  upon  which  interest 
depends,  hence  the  mind  is  temporarily  at  sea.  The  error  requires  a 
return  to  the  familiar  from  which  a  later  excursion  into  the  unknown 
may  profit  by  the  earlier  experience.  By  this  means  the  child  arrives 
at  certain  distinctions  fundamental  to  the  concept  of  reality.  The 
first  experience  of  resistance  to  physical  effort  teaches  the  distinction 
between  self  and  world  and  forms  perceptions  of  various  objects. 
Resistance  to  these  perceptions  and  thoughts  of  objects  teaches  the 
distinction  between  experience  and  reality  and  gives  conceptions  of 
general  truth.  A  much  later  form  of  resistance  that  violates  these 
conceptions  may  be  supposed  to  yield  the  intellectual  discipline  which 
anticipates  failure  by  previous  reflection.  By  this  evolution  from 
lower  to  higher  forms,  resistance  when  successfully  over-come  is  the 
means  of  continually  closer  contact  with  reality  and  of  the  normally 
distributed  interest  this  contact  implies.  The  many  recent  appli- 
cations of  this  principle  to  education  in  particular  fields,  of  which  Helen 
Marot's  The  Creative  Impulse  in  Industry  is  typical,  deserve  study  in 
this  connection. 

The  degree  of  repression,  i.e.  of  failure  to  overcome  such  resistance, 
depends  upon  the  extent  to  which  personal  interests  are  in  conflict  with 
or  dissociated  from  group  interests.  There  are  various  causes  for 
such  dissociation.2  Perhaps  the  first  to  appear  is  the  resistance  of 
external  conditions,  which  may  be  of  such  nature  as  either  to  prevent 
the  continuance  of  an  instinctive  activity  or  to  prevent  its  performance 
when  required  by  further  development.  Such  instances  as  the  art 
lover's  removal  to  a  city  without  galleries,  the  financier's  loss  of 
capital  by  a  turn  in  the  market,  and  the  scholar's  loss  of  manuscript 
may  illustrate  repressions  in  each  type  of  interest  resulting  from  the 
former  cause.  The  latter  is  illustrated  by  the  younger  boy's  reluctance 
to  enter  games  with  his  elders.  As  distinct  from  these  external  factors, 
repression  may  result  from  the  moral  interest  or  loyalty,  which  denies 
expression  to  legitimate  interests  from  a  mistaken  sense  of  propriety. 
An  example  may  be  found  in  the  group  prejudice  against  the  "grind" 
which  opposes  his  practical  interest  to  excel  in  school  work.  The  re- 
sulting conflict  between  loyalty  to  the  group  and  obedience  to  authority 

1  W.  Mitchell,  op.  tit.,  p.  64. 

2  As  distinguished  by  O.  Pfister,  "Psychoanalytic  Method,"  Chap.  V. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  43 

can  normally  have  but  one  outcome, — the  group  triumphs.  This  dis- 
taste for  authority  as  such  is  characteristic  of  all  aggressive  interest; 
hence  the  value  of  problem  methods  which  avoid  emphasis  of  the  pupils, 
inferiority.  In  contrast  to  this  preventive  aspect,  moral  interest 
becomes  a  repressing  factor  in  its  punishing  aspect.  A  conflict  takes 
place  between  the  unsocial  interest  expressed  in  the  act  and  the 
inhibited  social  interest.  The  resulting  psychic  disturbance  may  lead 
either  to  another  act  of  expiation  or  to  repressing  the  fact  of  the 
misdeameanor.  The  pretense  of  virtue  as  a  cloak  to  irregular  conduct 
is  thus  the  direct  result  of  the  guilt,  since  both  thought  and  appearance 
of  it  are  repressed: — witness  Lady  Macbeth,  the  proverbial  instance 
of  unconscious  justification. 

In  "compensation"  we  have  to  consider  a  universial  tendency 
of  mind  to  disguise  failures  in  adjustment  to  reality  whether  these 
result  from  the  above  typical  causes  or  from  others.  Essentially  the 
theory  involved  agrees  with  the  metaphysics  of  Emerson's  classic 
essay,  yet  it  is  entirely  distinct  from  the  "theory  of  compensation" 
as  known  to  quantitative  psychology.  The  latter  in  effect  maintains 
that  marked  superiority  in  certain  lines  of  achievement  is  usually  offset 
by  inferiority  in  others — a  fallacy  revealed  by  Thorndike.1  As  here 
used  the  term  refers  strictly  to  relative  differences.  Its  nature  appears 
in  the  universal  tendency  to  exaggerate  slightly  one's  income,  social 
status,  abilities,  and  other  interests  imperfectly  realized.  Such  com- 
pensatory illusions,  commonly  known  as  "fantasy,"  have  both  favor- 
able and  unfavorable  effects  upon  behavior.  In  childhood  the  fantasy 
is  largely  protective.  The  more  sensitive  the  mind,  the  greater  is 
the  need  for  illusion  to  reduce  the  shock  of  reality.  While  in  maturity 
this  function  sometimes  serves  the  same  purpose,  as  in  reducing  the 
shock  of  a  sudden  loss  which  otherwise  might  cause  insanity, — its 
effects  are  usually  undesirable.  These  effects  are  commonly  described 
in  the  extreme  forms  of  introversion  and  extroversion,2  the  former 
indicating  an  undercompensated  type  of  behavior  in  which  fantasy  is 
not  active  enough,  and  the  latter  an  overcompensated  type  in  which 
the  fantasy  is  too  active.3  The  nature  and  extent  of  such  fantasy 
are  best  determined  when  consciousness  is  unfocussed — whether  by 

1  op.  tit.,  p.  301. 

2  White,  op.  tit.,  pp.  2175.  compares  these  terms  with  numerous  other  equiva- 
lents. 

8  For  helpful  illustrations  from  school  situations  see  Long:  Psychoanalysis  in 
Relation  to  the  Child.    Journal  of  Experimental  Pedagogy  (London),  June,  1917. 


44 


An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 


sleep,  fatigue,  drugs,  or  other  agencies.1  Introversion  then  implies  a 
preoccupation  with  self  which  renders  adaptation  most  difficult. 
"Interest  persistently  turns  inwards,  away  from  the  contact  of  the 
world,  and  finds  its  easiest  and  most  natural  utilization  in  thought." 
Fear  plays  an  important  part  in  its  impulses  which  tend  toward  self 


Under •compensating  interest  in  self 


vor-compeiteating  interest  in  reality 


Figure.  Two.       Illustrating  the  Socialiring  Effect 

of  Resistance  upon  Aggressive  Interest. 

Explanation : 

A,B,C,D,E  indicate  degrees  of  resistance  as  normally  distributed. 

A  indicates  stage  of  maximum  resistance  to  aggressive  interests.  Failure  to  realize 

is  largely  compensated  by  fantasy  of  success. 
B  indicates  stage  of  normal  introversion.    Resistance  to  aggressive  interests  is  par* 

tially  overcome  by  conscious  effort. 
C  indicates  the  ideal  mean  between  intrinsic  and  extrinsic  interests  about  which 

compensation  centers. 
D  indicates  stage  of  normal  extroversion.    Easy  conformity  to  social  interests  only 

slightly  compensated  by  fantasy  and  largely  confirmedfby  actual  success. 
E  indicates  stage  of  minimum  resistance  to  aggressive  interests  implying  successful 

adaptation  by  which  these  interests  are  confirmed. 

criticism  and  against  emotional  betrayal.  The  extrovert  on  the  con- 
trary accepts  social  interests  spontaneously  and  without  question. 
His  life  is  largely  superficial,  but  gains  in  breadth  what  it  lacks  in 
depth.  It  reveals  a  maximum  of  vigorous  and  impulsive  feeling  with 
a  minimum  of  thought  and  reflection. 

Between  these  widely  opposed  extremes  the  degrees  of  compen- 
sation are  normally  distributed,  as  indicated  in  Figure  Two.    From 

1  Most  advantageously  perhaps  by  day  dreams,  cf.  J.  Adams,  ibid,  March, 
1914  and  Thorndike,  Educ.  Psych.  (1910)  p.  50;  and  occasionally  by  choice  of  read- 
ing; Hall,  Ped.  Sent.,  9: 99  and  Bell  and  Sweet,  Journal  of  Educ.  Psych.,  7:39-45. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  45 

this  it  will  be  inferred  that  when  equal  in  degree  the  combined  effects 
of  self-interest  and  social  interest  are  most  to  be  desired,  as  implying 
the  successful  but  effortful  over-coming  of  resistance  which  is  the 
condition  of  fullest  development.  Hence  abnormality  in  expression 
of  habitual  interest,  leading  to  dementia  praecox  in  the  one  case  and 
to  paranoia  in  the  other,  is  seen  to  result  when  either  adaptive  social 
interest  or  aggresive  self-interest  becomes  overbalanced.  By  reference 
to  the  types  of  social  interest  (see  p.  37)  it  will  be  noted  that  social 
interest  for  the  introvert  consists  in  preoccupation  with  his  duties 
to  society.  External  resistance  is  largely  successful  aud  his  interest 
lies  habitually  in  thought  of  situations  to  be  met.  It  is  therefore 
intrinsic  and  finds  expression  in  the  aesthetic,  moral,  and  theoretical 
elements  of  this  type.  Moral  issues  are  very  significant,  whatever 
standards  may  be,  and  social  adjustment  is  achieved  by  force  of 
intellectual  grasp.  On  account  of  this  self-critical  tendency,  a  recog- 
nized deficiency  in  performance  is  likely  to  be  overcome  by  persistent 
effort,  after  the  manner  of  the  poor  student  who  becomes  the  successful 
teacher.  The  many  exceptions  to  this  course  quite  naturally  result 
from  the  relative  infrequency  of  this  intrinsic  social  interest  in  its 
pure  expression.  For  the  extrovert,  the  effect  of  whose  experience  and 
mental  disposition  is  such  as  largely  to  negate  resistance,  expression 
occurs  in  the  extrinsic  elements, — the  purely  practical  and  the  rational. 
The  ease  of  adjustment  renders  each  situation  primarily  the  means  for 
continued  instinctive  expression.  Hence  moral  issues  are  unlikely 
to  arise  and  when  they  do  they  are  decided  by  the  standards  of  the 
moment.  While  the  resulting  inconsistency  is  opposed  to  social 
integration,  such  behavior  illustrates  the  teaching  of  "conflict  psy- 
chology" with  respect  to  mental  hygiene;  namely,  "express  every  pain- 
ful situation  in  a  social  way."  "To  know  the  better  and  follow  the 
worse  indicates  a  healthier  state  of  mind  .  .  .  than  that  possessed 
by  the  individual  whose  ill-doing  springs  from  repressed  unconscious 
motives."1  Yet  in  all  behavior  a  purposeful  overcoming  of  resistance 
is  the  best  means  of  compromise  between  intrinsic  and  extrinsic 
social  interest  on  which  capacity  for  both  moral  and  rational  conduct 
depends.  Hence  in  the  standardized  adjustment  of  resistance  to 
meet  individual  needs  lie  the  hopes  of  efficient  education  and  of 
psychotherapy. 

While  this  description  of  extreme  types  may  have  obscured  the 

1  cf.  Lawrence,  The  Theory  of  Repression  and  Character.     Journal  of  Experi- 
mental Pedagogy  (London),  Dec,  1916,  p.  62. 


46  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

intervening  cases  to  which  its  useful  interpretation  must  apply,  such 
plan  of  treatment  is  probably  the  best  approach  to  the  study  of  resis- 
tance and  its  effects  upon  habitual  social  interest.  A  final  chapter 
indicates  certain  motivating  principles  implied  in  previous  discussion 
and  suggests  corresponding  hypotheses  more  capable  of  conclusive 
experiment. 


Chapter  Six.    Educational  Implications 

Any  discussion  of  the  means  by  which  various  forms  of  interest 
can  be  objectively  controlled  presupposes  the  ability  to  detect  these 
interests  in  the  individual's  behavior.  As  implied  throughout  previous 
discussion,  these  forms  of  interest  should  be  distinguished  by  the  ends 
sought  in  a  particular  environment.  In  the  attempt  to  distinguish 
these  forms  by  congenital  capabilities,  the  suggested  classification 
by  types,  etc.  is  obviously  too  broad  to  be  serviceable.  It  is  therefore 
necessary  that  each  capability  be  rated  by  thorough  clinical  exam- 
ination before  the  individual's  "educability"  or  chance  of  attaining 
these  ends  can  be  definitely  known.1  Interests  themselves  are 
inferred  both  from  (1)  subjective  estimates  based  on  observation  of 
various  expressions  and  (2)  quantitative  estimates  based  on  obser- 
vation in  measurable  performances.  Both  approaches  include  many 
useful  methods  which  might  well  be  discussed  in  connection  with 
former  analysis,  yet  such  discussion  may  not  be  entered  here.  Instead 
it  may  prove  sufficient  to  note  certain  assumptions  involved  in  the 
discussion  to  follow. 

The  first  of  these  postulates  that  the  interest  most  profitably 
diagnosed  should  mediate  between  momentary  preferences  and  uni- 
formly permanent  tendencies  of  original  nature.  The  relative  ele- 
ment is  necessary  to  indicate  the  point  of  approach;  the  absolute 
element  to  prevent  reliance  upon  mere  caprice.  That  interest  in 
the  given  individual  which  best  serves  the  educational  purpose  may 
therefore  be  roughly  indicated  by  the  ends  in  a  given  environment 
which  he  habitually  puts  forth  most  effort  to  attain  and  with  which 
he  habitually  identifies  himself.  Thus  defined,  it  is  evident  that 
all  methods  which  require  accurate  observation  of  behavior  are 
valuable.  It  is  further  necessary  to  emphasize  the  distinction  between 
the  use  of  various  methods  to  discover  interests  and  their  use  to  direct 
interests.  Even  by  quantitative  tests  of  competencies,  it  is  often 
possible  to  direct  interest  toward  a  previously  distasteful  activity 

1  For  helpful  classification  and  description  of  these  capabilities  see  H.  J.  Hump- 
stone:  The  Analytical  Diagnosis.     The  Psychological  Clinic,  May  15,  1919. 

47 


48  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

by  convincing  the  subject  that  he  has  the  required  ability.1  The 
effective  means  of  rating  "dynamic  qualities"  by  observation  pro- 
posed by  Rugg2  is  devised  with  this  end  directly  in  view.  Its  impor- 
tant features  are  two:  the  self -improvement  of  students  through 
self-rating,  and  measurement  by  direct  comparison.  The  latter  is 
the  most  reliable  form  of  subjective  estimate.  While  the  use  of  such 
score  cards  does  not  eliminate  prejudice,  it  does  much  to  define  the 
qualities  estimated  and  to  reduce  the  liability  of  error,  as  shown  by 
occasional  correlations  between  subjective  and  quantitative  ratings 
of  the  so-called  measurable  traits.3  When  interest  is  observed  in 
its  most  spontaneous  expression  as  in  dramatics,  athletics,  and  other 
extra-curriculum  activities,  such  ratings  become  highly  reliable. 
The  value  of  quantitative  studies  as  a  basis  for  inference  regarding 
relative  differences  depends  greatly  on  knowledge  of  the  individual's 
previous  experience.  If  allowance  is  made  for  the  irregular  rate  of 
mental  development,  the  effect  of  laboratory  conditions,  and  the 
imperfections  of  scales  now  in  use,  a  wide  variety  of  performance 
tests  may  indicate  the  probable  remoteness  or  span  of  interest,4  the 
extent  of  development  or  genetic  stage  of  interest,  and  also  those 
activities  best  suited  to  specific  abilities  in  which  interest  is  normally 
most  intense.  In  short,  it  appears  that  diagnosis  of  interests  as 
described,  requires  the  use  of  standard  tests  to  determine  capabilities, 
the  widest  practicable  observation  of  behavior  to  determine  relative 
factors,  and  adequate,  progressive,  and  available  records  of  such 
behavior  for  the  guidance  of  all  concerned. 

The  attempt  to  relate  phenomena  of  interest  to  specific  educa- 
tional controls  with  any  degree  of  precision  requires  that  the  nature 
and  effects  of  both  be  scientifically  described.  Quantitative  measure- 
ment and  classification  of  interest  lies  beyond  all  present  hope,  yet 
scientific  description  of  various  stimuli  and  of  their  apparent  effects 
upon  behavior  under  standardized  conditions  is  not  only  possible 
but  is  essential  to  the  confirmation  and  intelligent  use  of  theories 
herein  considered.  The  Chapman  and  Feeler  experiment,  noted 
in  the  first  chapter  of  this  article,  is  typical  of  many  studies  leading 

1  H.  C.  Link:  "Employment  Psychology."  p.  208. 

2  School  Review,  May,  1920. 

J  H.  C.  Link,  op.  tit.,  p.  332  gives  reasons  for  this  reduction  of  error;  L.  M.  Ter- 
man:  "Intelligence  of  School  Children,"  pp.  57ff.  mentions  certain  rather  ques- 
tionable correlations. 

*cf.  E.  K.  Fretwell:  A  Study  in  Educational  Prognosis.  Teachers'  Col.  Cont., 
No.  99,  p.  303. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  49 

to  this  end  whose  conclusions  to  date  are  nevertheless  too  fragmentary 
to  serve  as  corroborative  evidence.  The  same  is  in  general  true  of 
educational  controls.  By  analogy  with  a  principle  of  industrial 
efficiency,  which  requires  that  the  best  means  of  arriving  at  standard 
attainments  should  be  adopted  as  standard  operations  and  consis- 
tently employed  so  far  as  standard  conditions  will  permit,1  education 
must  extend  its  scientific  description  of  various  products  to  include 
those  processes  by  which  under  standard  conditions  each  product 
is  best  attained.2  Otherwise  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  principles  of 
method  can  be  transferred  from  educational  theory  to  educational 
fact.  It  is  not  intended  that  these  principles  involved  in  efficient 
management  of  any  enterprise  should  be  applied  to  education  in  merely 
a  figurative  sense.  Their  actual  application  becomes  evident  when 
the  pupil  takes  the  place  of  the  industrial  worker,  who  is  guided  by 
superiors  in  performing  such  operations  as  lead  to  various  attainments 
determined  by  the  aim.  For  the  pupil  these  attainments  comprise 
the  various  proficiencies  or  educational  products  that  result  from 
various  operations  in  the  process.  The  remainder  of  the  discussion 
in  developing  this  point  of  view  is  confined  to  a  purely  theoretical 
account  of  motivation  in  terms  previously  used. 

EThe  term  motivation  may  here  be  understood  to  mean  the  stimu- 
s  to  such  self-activity  under  prescribed  conditions  as  tends  to  modify 
ter  activity  in  a  desired  direction.  A  most  superficial  view  of  the 
process  reveals  the  fact  that  this  stimulus  may  come  either  from  the 
conditions  themselves,  or  from  outside,  or  from  both.  In  terms  of 
educational  theory,  the  prescribed  conditions  may  be  identified  with 
course  of  study  and  the  outside  stimulus  with  method.  To  the  same 
degree  that  the  standard  conditions  and  standard  operations  of 
industrial  efficiency  are  both  responsible  for  the  standard  attainment, 
both  course  of  study  and  method  are  involved  in  the  educational 
product.  Together  these  constitute  the  motivating  process  with 
which  we  are  chiefly  concerned,  yet  by  the  theoretical  distinction 
each  may  be  considered  separately.     The  product  is  the  cross  section 

1  cf.  H.  Emerson:  "Twelve  Principles  of  Efficiency,"  Chap.  XII  and  H.  Upde- 
graff:  "Scientific  Management  in  Educational  Administration,"  Univ.  of  Penna. 
Free  Lectures,  1913-14,  pp.  350-64,  whose  current  research  is  pioneer  work  in  this 
field.  The  term  "standardization "  as  applied  to  educational  method  and  products 
is  here  used  in  the  industrial  and  not  in  the  statistical  sense.  It  means  simply 
the  selection  and  maintenance  of  the  best  method,  product,  etc.  under  specified 
conditions. 

*  As  advocated  by  Rugg,  op.  tit.,  p.  340. 


50  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

of  the  process,  which  like  the  standard  attainment  is  best  defined 
in  terms  of  process.  This  means  that  neither  knowledge,  interest, 
nor  action  should  alone  constitute  the  desired  product,  but  that  all 
three  with  their  many  implications  should  be  taken  into  account  so 
far  as  may  be  practicable. 

As  the  standard  conditions  of  efficient  enterprise  are  made  as 
favorable  as  possible  with  reference  to  the  particular  aim,  the  course 
of  study  should  likewise  be  determined  by  the  educational  aim,  or 
in  other  words  by  the  needs  of  the  individual  pupil.  Such  needs  as 
typical  of  large  groups  in  various  conditions  of  modern  society  have 
been  analyzed  from  many  different  standpoints.1  The  various  aims 
resulting  from  such  analysis  can  in  general  be  said  to  seek  a  happy 
compromise  between  certain  competencies  which  society  demands 
as  a  condition  of  full  membership  in  the  social  order  and  the  fullest 
development  of  the  individual's  native  endowment.  This  mutual 
development  of  individual  and  social  traits  should  then  result  so  far 
as  possible  from  the  pupil's  contact  with  the  situations  which  com- 
prise the  course  of  study.  The  effectiveness  of  a  particular  situation 
to  afford  such  development  in  the  individual  case  is  the  criterion  for 
its  selection. 

It  is  evident  that  in  order  to  estimate  this  effectiveness  one  must 
anticipate  those  individual  and  social  traits  that  are  most  valuable 
in  the  child's  later  experience.  To  the  degree  in  which  his  behavior 
under  present  conditions  is  normal  one  may  closely  predict  the  later 
conditions  by  analogy  with  the  experience  of  others  whose  behavior 
was  similar  at  the  same  stage  of  development.  By  a  preliminary 
statement  this  experience  was  shown  roughly  to  comprise  feeling  and 
interest  in  a  situation,  action  in  such  interest,  and  knowledge  of  the 
effects  of  such  action.  The  comparison  of  present  with  probable 
future  experience  involved  in  selecting  the  effective  course  of  study 
should  then  make  due  allowance  for  each  element;  and  each,  we  have 
said,  must  also  appear  in  the  standard  attainment  or  product  by 
which  the  efficiency  of  both  course  of  study  and  method  is 
measured. 

The  departure  of  traditional  practice  from  this  ideal  is  largely 
explained   by  a  fallacy  of  Herbartian  psychology  which  regarded 

1  e.g.  J.  T.  Bobbitt:  "  The  Curriculum." 
J.  &  E.  Dewey:  "Schools  of  Tomorrow." 

A.  D.  Yocum:  The  Determinants  of  the  Course  of  Study.  N.  E.  A.  Proc,  1914. 
Nat.  Soc.  for  Study  of  Education,  16th,  17th,  and  19th  Year  Books,  Part  I. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  51 

ideas  or  knowledge  as  the  sufficient  explanation  of  interest.  Hence 
to  determine  the  traditional  "text-book"  course  of  study  the  educa- 
tor had  merely  to  tabulate  the  useful  forms  of  knowledge,1  take  stock 
of  the  pupil's  acquirement  of  each,  and  prescribe  accordingly.  In 
so  doing  he  ignored  the  fact  that  analysis  of  residual  knowledge  is 
not  analysis  of  behavior.  Command  of  mere  facts  in  no  way  ensures 
a  useful  attitude  regarding  them  nor  the  probability  of  useful  action 
as  a  result.  Approaching  the  course  of  study  from  the  opposite  angle 
some  "schools  of  tomorrow"  err  to  the  other  extreme.  Adapting 
the  teaching  situation  to  the  tendencies  of  individual  behavior  not 
infrequently  leads  to  reliance  upon  mere  caprice.  The  integrat- 
ing factor  is  minimized  and  the  differentiating  factor  is  supreme. 
Hence  "problem-project"  situations  are  only  efficient  to  the  degree 
that  the  pupil's  action  involves  progressive  standard  attainments 
which  apply  to  his  case  and  which  so  far  as  possible  are  systemati- 
cally planned  in  advance.  Thanks  to  the  present  broadcast  experi- 
ment such  problem  courses  are  rapidly  becoming  highly  efficient  in 
this  respect.  Yet  to  harmonize  these  two  criteria — the  universal 
knowledge  requirement  on  the  one  hand  and  expression  of  individual 
interest  on  the  other — there  is  need  for  the  truly  scientific  analysis 
of  behavior  that  shall  bring  all  important  factors  of  experience  into 
proper  perspective  and  that  shall  define  these  factors  in  terms  of 
genetic  development.  The  more  quantitative  such  definition  becomes, 
the  more  directly  useful  is  it  in  determining  the  course  of  study. 
The  greatest  contribution  of  such  analysis  must  consist  in  the  more 
precise  definition  of  aim  that  permits  definition  of  standard  attain- 
ments in  terms  of  operations. 

This  outline  of  the  problem  may  serve  to  justify  the  synthetic 
study  of  interest  as  one  means  of  approach.  As  described  in  the 
theoretical  terms  of  foregoing  chapters  such  study  thoroughly  pursued 
must  do  much  to  standardize  efficient  educational  procedure,  since  its 
actual  completion  implies  the  closer  relation  of  the  learning  process 
to  specific  educational  controls.  The  nature  of  that  interest  in  which 
useful  action  is  taken  and  useful  knowledge  acquired  might  then  serve 
more  largely  to  determine  the  individual  course  of  study.  Pending 
such  conclusive  experiment  the  theoretical  criteria  for  selection  of 
teaching  situations  must  include  the  following:  (a)  relative  differ- 
ences, i.e.  inference  from  the  pupil's  reactions  as  to  the  prevailing 
trends  of  interest;  (6)  absolute  differences,  i.e.  inference  from  various 

1  As  proposed  most  scientifically  by  Bobbitt,  op.  cit. 


52  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

painstaking  achievements  as  to  the  capacity  for  its  realization  under 
specific  conditions;  (c)  inference  from  the  experience  of  adults  simi- 
larly endowed  in  the  above  respects  as  to  the  effects  of  such  reali- 
zation; and  (d)  inference  from  society  at  large  as  to  the  inevitable 
recurrence  and  applicability  of  the  situation  in  later  life  for  all 
individuals. 

The  ideal  course  of  study  consisting  entirely  of  such  situations 
as  are  fully  adapted  to  individual  needs  must  render  the  teacher 
superfluous.  The  demand  for  external  motivation  decreases  as 
this  intrinsic  efficiency  is  approached.  Thus  while  there  is  no  clear 
difference  in  theory  between  course  of  study  and  method  from  the 
standpoint  of  motivation,  the  practical  nonexistence  of  the  ideal 
situation  refers  motivation  almost  entirely  to  method.  In  practice 
the  function  of  content  is  simply  to  provide  occasion  for  such  experi- 
ence as  behavior  shows  to  be  most  desirable  at  a  given  time.  The 
functions  of  method  are,  essentially,  (a)  to  promote  sufficient  activity 
to  acquire  this  necessary  experience,  (b)  to  direct  this  experience 
toward  various  desirable  ends,  and  (c)  to  cause  each  of  these  ends  to 
be  pursued  upon  appropriate  future  occasions.  Thus  the  ideal 
method  is  almost  equally  independent  of  content,  since  almost  any 
situation  may  provide  occasion  for  some  useful  experience. 

This  relation  of  content  to  method  and  the  later  application  of 
efficiency  principles  to  both  may  be  clarified  by  a  random  illustration 
of  the  learning  process.  We  may  suppose  each  of  the  primary  types 
of  interest  to  be  represented  by  a  vapid  femme-du-monde,  a  cub- 
reporter,  and  a  professor  of  dramatic  literature, — all  attending  a 
production  of  a  racy  problem  play.  If  the  apperceptions  of  each  are 
true  to  type,  one  may  expect  the  lady  to  yield  readily  to  intrinsic 
absorption  in  the  lure  of  the  matinee  idol.  The  reporter  is  restrained 
from  such  indulgence  by  the  practical  demands  of  his  write-up.  The 
professor  from  the  depths  of  his  dramaturgy  may  properly  inquire — 
'how  can  such  trash  be  written?'  It  is  evident  that  behavior  is 
sufficiently  motivated  by  the  content  in  the  sense  that  a  fair  amount 
of  activity  results  in  each  case.  It  is  equally  evident  that  other 
content  might  better  suit  the  needs  of  the  three  individuals.  Yet  in 
selecting  this  other  content  the  educator  is  greatly  assisted  by  study 
of  each  response  to  the  play,  which  may  stand  for  any  characteristic 
behavior.  The  above  criteria  for  selection  of  course  of  study  here 
apply.  The  supplementary  function  of  method  involves  the  direc- 
tion of  this  activity  to  the  end  most  useful  for  the  individual:  the 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  53 

lady's  riot  of  feeling  must  be  directed  to  certain  useful  and  recurrent 
aspects  of  the  situation;  the  reporter's  concentration  upon  superfi- 
cial features  affecting  him  alone  should  admit  some  of  the  professor's 
social  theory;  while  the  professor,  if  not  fully  attained,  ma}r  well 
profit  by  something  of  the  other  two.  His  interpretation  of  catharsis 
may  doubtless  be  enriched  by  attention  to  the  applause  of  the  box- 
party:  theoretical  becomes  rational  interest.  It  is  this  normal 
variation  from  personal  impulse  through  the  socially  obvious  to  the 
socially  rational  which  marks  the  degrees  of  the  learning  process. 
Since  the  higher  degrees  of  this  process  are  most  readily  distin- 
guished from  the  lower  by  the  useful  knowledge  acquired,  progress 
is  customarily  judged  by  attainments  in  knowledge  alone.  Five  such 
degrees  of  retention  are  clearly  distinguished  by  Yocum1  as  forgotten 
knowledge,  barely  retained,  many-sided  (or  depending  upon  various 
occasions  for  revival),  definite,  and  generally  applicable.  Hence ''.the 
formal  steps  of  instruction,  the  plan  of  text-books,  and  methods  of 
instruction  in  general  have  conformed  to  this  sequence.  Such  stand- 
ard attainments  as  these,  whether  applied  to  the  course  of  study 
as  a  whole  or  to  a  particular  subject  or  part  of  a  subject,  are  ineffi- 
cient when  they  disregard  other  elements  essential  in  the  process.  The 
standard  operations,2  or  methods  of  reaching  such  attainments,  are 
consequently  inadequate  also.  To  improve  the  efficiency  of  standard 
methods  one  must  so  revise  the  standard  attainments  that  together 
these  shall  constitute  a  fuller  realization  of  aim.  We  have  noted  that 
this  aim  involves  the  reciprocal  functions  of  interest  and  knowledge. 
Inadequacy  of  useful  knowledge,  when  recognized,  is  the  source  of 
new  interest,  and  new  interest  the  source  of  new  knowledge.  Hence 
the  failure  to  realize  expectations  with  regard  to  a  situation  marks 
the  rise  to  a  higher  form  of  retention  and  a  more  adequate  control.3 
This  relation  suggests  a  theoretical  correspondence  between  further- 
ance of  interest  and  growth  of  knowledge  by  which  the  affective 
element  may  be  included  in  the  standard  attainment  and  accordingly 
recognized  in  the  standard  operation.  In  terms  previously  defined 
these  stages  in  the  furtherance  of  interest  may  be  distinguished  as 
follows:  First,  interest  in  the  present  situation.  Second,  the  interest, 
expressed  in  the  present  situation  finds  expression  in  the  idea  of  it. 
Third,  interest  in  the  idea  includes  ideas  of  similar  situations  de- 

1  A.  D.  Yocum:  "Culture,  Discipline  and  Democracy,"  pp.  31ff. 

2  cf.  H.  Emerson,  op.  cit.,  Chap.  XII. 

3  W.  Mitchell,  op.  cit.,  p.  312. 


54  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

manding  the  same  sort  of  behavior  because  appealing  to  the  same 
type  of  interest.  This  stage  might  be  reached  when  the  discovery  of 
pleasure  in  poetry  leads  to  a  similar  discovery  in  music,  or  where 
success  in  one  undertaking  inspires  success  in  others,  or  when  cognitive 
interest  in  a  particular  field  leads  to  deeper  respect  for  scholarship  in 
general.  Fourth,  activity  in  one  type  of  interest  becomes  habitual 
in  particular  situations.  Fifth,  habitual  expression  becomes  socialized, 
and  the  nature  of  the  interest  expressed  is  determined  by  the  social  re- 
quirements of  the  situation;  hence  behavior  is  at  all  points  in  closest 
conformity  with  reality.  The  scale  of  interest  is  probably  no  more 
and  no  less  useful  than  the  scale  of  retention  except  in  so  far  as  the 
attainment  of  each  degree  is  less  readily  determined.  It  has  perhaps 
the  advantage  of  being  unsuited  to  group  application,  and  of  directing 
the  teacher's  attention  to  the  individual  response. 

If  regarded  as  tentative  standard  attainments,  these  degrees  of 
knowledge  and  of  interest  combined  must  determine  the  operation 
to  be  standardized.  Those  particular  operations  or  methods  leading 
most  directly  to  the  attainment  desired  should  be  selected  for  appli- 
cation at  various  stages  of  the  process.  Hence  on  the  basis  of  these 
progressive  attainments  it  should  be  possible  to  distinguish  the 
general  functions  of  method  in  motivation  which  have  been  selected 
upon  purely  logical  grounds;  namely,  the  stimulation  of  activity, 
its  direction  toward  desired  ends,  and  its  reproduction  upon  appro- 
priate occasions.  Each  of  these  functions  may  be  outlined  in  turn 
to  suggest  varieties  of  interest  involved  in  each  attainment  and 
consequently  in  the  process  as  a  whole.1 

Whether  considered  genetically  or  as  applied  to  all  learning,  the 
first  three  attainments  may  be  related  to  the  first  function, — mere 
stimulation  of  activity.  Before  interest  in  a  particular  form  of  experi- 
ence has  become  habitual  and  knowledge  of  it  has  become  definite, 
behavior  is  directed  toward  the  situation  as  an  end  in  itself.  Such 
behavior  is  largely  experimental  until  the  expectations  regarding 
such  situations  have  been  justified  by  experience  and  their  fulfilment 
is  taken-for-granted.  This  experimental  aspect  of  behavior  suggests 
that  progress  through  the  first  three  attainments  is  motivated  by 
expression  of  instinctive  interest.  The  fact  of  such  expression  insures 
activity  of  some  sort,  and  progress  from  one  to  another  of  these 

1  cf.  A.  D.  Yocum,  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1914,  pp.  223-235,  for  an  analysis  of 
method  in  terms  of  knowledge  attainments  with  which  this  treatment  in  terms 
of  interest  closely  agrees. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  55 

attainments  results  from  the  increasing  scope  of  activity  as  the  types 
of  instinctive  interest  evolve. 

All  activity  is  stimulated  at  first  by  interest  in  the  mere  situation 
which  has  no  meaning  other  than  its  appeal  to  purely  intrinsic  interest. 
The  force  of  this  appeal  is  apparent  in  all  forms  of  behavior  in  that 
things  nearer  sense  are  always  the  more  influential.1  In  later  expres- 
sion attention  varies  with  interest,  but  interest  does  not  vary  with 
attention.  Interest  in  the  mere  situation  does  vary  with  attention 
inasmuch  as  to  captivate  attention  is  to  motivate  activity.  The 
operations  for  producing  involuntary  attention  as  suggested  by  the 
varieties  of  purely  intrinsic  interest  are  familiar  from  daily  obser- 
vation. They  consist  in  various  sensory  stimuli  whose  intensity  is 
explained  by  such  qualities  as  novelty,  contrast,  rhythm,  movement, 
et  al.  Organic  factors  cause  attention  to  persist,  through  none  save 
the  motor  can  be  stimulated  directly.  The  more  the  situation  meets 
an  instinctive  want,  the  longer  is  the  series  of  movements  attended 
to.  The  intensity  of  stimulus  should,  however,  be  neither  too  high 
nor  too  low;  otherwise  it  fails  to  take  effect.2  The  great  variety  of 
such  controls,  as  used  in  reaction  time  experiments,  for  example, 
suggest  many  means  of  producing  some  activity  in  any  situation. 
The  effect  of  such  activity  is  mere  contact  with  prepared  conditions 
to  which  meaning  may  later  be  given. 

Interest  in  the  idea  or  meaning  of  the  situation  is  essentially  practi- 
cal. The  situation,  though  still  an  end  in  itself,  is  utilized.  Hence 
activity  is  motivated  by  such  instinctive  interest  as  recognizes  in 
the  situation  an  occasion  for  achievement.  To  be  recognized  at  all 
some  knowledge  of  the  situation  must  have  been  acquired  from  a 
former  contact  with  it,  but  ignorance  of  this  knowledge  may  result 
either  from  lack  of  interest  or  from  too  much  interest  beyond  control. 
In  the  former  case  the  problem  of  motivation  is  to  ally  the  situation 
with  what  does  have  interest,  which  means,  in  the  last  analysis,  with 
pleasant  or  painful  consequences.  This  is  done  by  emphasizing  the 
significant  elements  of  the  situation  and  its  consequence  so  that 
each  may  serve  as  a  sign.  By  bringing  the  signs  frequently  together 
a  cognitive  interest  is  developed  which  may  become  practical  if  the 
consequence  is  sufficiently  agreeable.  The  method  is  the  same 
when  interest  is  excessive  and  the  situation  has  no  clear  meaning. 

1  cf.  G.  Wallas:  "Human  Nature  in  Politics,"  p.  106. 

2  See  J.  Adams'  helpful  description  of  "vanishing  point"  and  "gaping  point," 
'Exposition  and  Illustration  in  Teaching,"  p.  160. 


56  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

The  absorbing  situation  must  be  related  to  the  consequence  until  the 
meaning  becomes  conscious.  When  meaning  is  thus  acquired  the 
situation  appeals  to  practical  interest.  By  presenting  difficulties 
in  the  situation  the  teacher  reveals  the  inadequacy  of  this  meaning 
or  of  other  beliefs  taken-for-granted.1  Hence  interest  in  seeking 
progressively  to  overcome  these  difficulties  finds  expression  in  other 
aggressive  forms,  such  as  pursuit,  rivalry  et  al.,  and  thereby  develops 
characteristic  behavior  toward  similar  situations.  The  operations  leading 
to  the  second  attainment  must  therefore  present  problematic  situations 
containing  such  qualities  as  appeal  to  these  varieties  of  interest. 

The  development  of  interest  from  one  situation  to  others  like  it 
results  largely  from  gratification  of  curiosity.  The  interest  may 
therefore  be  termed  cognitive,  though  other  elements  as  always  are 
included.  Recognition  of  a  common  quality  in  new  and  old  situations 
leads  to  expectancy  of  the  same  consequence  that  followed  the  former 
experience  and  hence  to  reproduction  of  the  same  activity.  The 
sense  of  achievement  in  the  sound  of  an  electric  bell  is  expected  to 
follow  the  pressing  of  an  electric  light  button.  Hence  curiosity  is  a 
powerful  factor  in  the  unification  of  experience.  Here  as  elsewhere 
the  method  of  motivation,  or  operation  to  be  standardized,  consists 
in  devising  a  problem  which  appeals  as  worth  while  and  which  leads 
to  more  effective  expression  in  each  type  of  interest.  While  this 
end  is  partly  reached  by  merely  increasing  the  variety  of  experience 
and  so  revealing  the  inadequacy  of  present  learning,  it  is  more  directly 
reached  by  the  pupil's  independent  thought.  In  either  case  the  new 
adjustment  must  be  so  challenged  as  to  require  reflection  upon  its 
value.  Such  reflection  implies  expression  of  similar  interests  in  similar 
situations  and  possession  of  "many-sided"  knowledge  which  together 
constitute  the  third  attainment. 

The  increasing  role  of  social  influences  at  approximately  this 
stage  of  the  process  involves  a  new  function  of  method, — the  direction 
of  activity  in  all  situations  toward  certain  useful  ends.  As  implied 
by  the  fourth  attainment  to  which  this  activity  leads,  certain  situa- 
tions are  taken-for-granted  and  so  become  the  means  by  which  habi- 
tual interests  are  realized.  Other  situations  less  directly  related  to  these 
interests  are  still  regarded  as  ends  in  themselves.  Hence  this  distinc- 
tion between  means  and  ends  observes  the  distinction  previously 
made  between  extrinsic  and  intrinsic  interests.  The  former  express 
an  aggressive  attitude  toward  situations  that  may  serve  more  remote 

1  cf.  W.  Mitchell,  op.  cit.,  p.  292. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  57 

personal  ends,  whether  the  prevailing  interest  be  intrinsic,  practical 
or  rational.  The  latter  express  an  adaptive  attitude  toward  the 
nature  of  the  situation,  whether  this  is  of  interest  in  a  moral  or  theo- 
retical aspect. 

Such  methods  as  may  be  standardized  to  motivate  this  at- 
tainment of  habitual  interest  must  be  selected  entirely  by  individual 
diagnosis.  No  general  prescription  can  possibly  prove  effective. 
Yet  the  most  obvious  implications  of  the  above  analysis  may  help 
to  interpret  such  diagnosis  in  selection  of  method.  One  such  impli- 
cation is  that  the  more  vigorous  tendencies  revealed  by  diagnosis 
should  be  directed  toward  ends  that  can  be  profitably  realized  in  the 
given  environment.  A  curriculum  consisting  of  prescribed,  experi- 
mental, and  elective  courses1  does  much  to  indicate  the  nature  of 
these  tendencies2  and  the  particular  field  to  be  regarded  as  the  pupil's 
specialty.  This  should  naturally  be  the  field  in  which  interest  and 
ability  coincide.  Predominant  interest  in  aesthetic  appreciation, 
in  rivalry,  or  in  intellectual  curiosity,  as  expressed  by  various  individu- 
als in  various  school  activities,  should  determine  both  the  teacher's 
means  of  approach  and  the  individual's  status  in  the  group.  Interests 
most  closely  identified  with  the  self  should  when  possible  be  directly 
furthered  by  such  success  as  will  lead  to  more  remote  realizations. 
This  success  the  teacher  can  regulate  by  assigning  problems  more  or 
less  difficult  so  as  to  preserve  a  justifiable  feeling  of  superiority  in 
the  special  field.  Whether  the  specialty  lie  in  public  speaking,  or 
in  wood-work,  or  in  the  operation  of  moving  picture  machines,  this 
fact  will  determine  the  motivation  of  other  activity  so  far  as  common 
elements  are  actually  present.  While  the  particular  interest  thus 
rendered  habitual  is  not  significant,  some  special  interest  should  be 
successfully  expressed.  When  once  this  successful  expression  has 
become  habitual,  the  interest  may  seek  more  distant  and  more  useful 
ends.  Very  frequently  the  reluctance  to  learn  from  elders  causes 
indifference  to  all  activities.  This  can  perhaps  best  be  overcome  by 
obtaining  influence  over  leaders  of  group  and  by  such  laboratory 
methods  as  give  the  pupil  the  advantage  of  the  teacher  regarding 
certain  facts.3     When  problems  can  be  thus  rationalized  in  terms  of 

1  e.g.  as  described  by  C.  R.  Henderson,  Prin.  of  Ednc.,  p.  492. 

2  Best  distinguished  perhaps  by  type  of  interest  as  suggested  by  W.  H.  Kil- 
patrick,  N.  E.  A.  Proceedings,  1918,  pp.  528ff. 

8  cf.  W.  J.  McCallister:  An  Experiment  in  Use  of  the  Reference  Library. 
Journal  of  Experimental  Pedagogy,  (London),  March,  1917. 


58  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

extrinsic  interest,  the  operation  is  likely  to  be  efficient.  If  the  unpleas- 
antness of  filthy  streets  can  motivate  an  intelligent  interest  in  slums, 
for  example,  instruction  in  civics  is  greatly  economized. 

The  extent  to  which  this  direct  motivation  is  possible  depends  of 
course  upon  both  pupil  and  teacher.  When  the  pupil's  aggressive 
interests  are  sufficiently  intense  and  varied,  the  teacher  may  have 
enough  ingenuity  to  reveal  social  ends  in  each  spontaneous  activity. 
Yet  the  limits  of  human  resourcefulness  are  such  that  direct  motiva- 
tion of  preparatory  learning  is  often  wasteful.  As  Klapper  says, 
"the  creation  of  the  conditions  that  would  make  motive  arise  would 
produce  an  artificiality  similar  to  learning  because  of  authority." 
While  final  acceptance  of  this  view  must  depend  on  the  success  of 
many  current  experiments  which  rely  entirely  upon  direct  motivation, 
it  is  supported  by  former  explanation  of  intrinsic  social  interests. 
Adaptation  to  novel  situations  is  usually  the  immediate  effect  of 
authority.  Hence  the  operation  which  best  renders  these  adaptive 
interests  habitual  involves  a  certain  amount  of  coercion.  Activity 
should  accordingly  be  directed  by  mediate  interest  which  bears  the 
closest  relation  to  the  end  proposed.  Judged  simply  as  a  means  of 
producing  temporary  conformity  the  birch  is  the  most  effective  appeal 
to  this  interest.  Its  inefficiency  as  a  means  of  moral  instruction  lies 
in  the  resulting  feeling  of  inferiority  which  negates  the  cooperative 
attitude  upon  which  healthy  moral  interest  must  depend.  Hence  the 
efficient  operation  by  which  habitual  intrinsic  interests  are  attained 
would  logically  consist  in  the  maintenance  of  esprit  de  corps.  Such 
means  of  directing  interest  to  the  demands  of  various  social  situations 
may  well  include  forms  of  drill  and  review  where  each  is  motivated  so 
far  as  possible  by  mediate  interest  in  success  or  in  novelty  of  presentation.1 

The  third  function  of  method,  which  involves  the  final  attain- 
ment of  the  process,  is  concerned  with  the  appropriate  expression  of 
both  extrinsic  and  intrinsic  interests.  Both  must  be  adjusted  to  the 
occasion,  i.e.  to  reality.  To  this  end  motivation  must  rely  upon  the 
instinctive  tendency  to  compensate  for  undue  expression  of  either. 
The  educator's  problem  is  to  cultivate  standards  of  conduct  that 
shall  prevent  both  the  exploitation  of  easy  situations  and  the  complete 
surrender  to  others.  Each  of  these  attitudes  leads  to  feelings  of 
inferiority; — since  gratification  of  selfish  impulse  meets  the  disapproval 
of  the  group,  and  repression  of  legitimate  interests  brings  the  sense 

1cf.  means  of  such  motivation  by  standardized  tests.  W.  S.  Monroe:  "Meas- 
uring the  Results  of  Teaching,"  p.  79  et  passim. 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  59 

of  failure.  Hence  the  effect  of  instinctive  compensation  is  to  displace 
this  actual  inferiority  by  the  illusion  of  success.  Though  the  educa- 
tional process  is  necessarily  the  same,  it  is  possible  so  to  modify  the 
resistance  that  success  in  some  line  of  endeavor  may  become  actual 
and  so  give  rise  to  legitimate  feelings  of  social  superiority.  The  value 
of  this  procedure  depends  upon  the  degree  to  which  realization  of 
aggressive  interests  involves  expression  of  adaptive  interests  also, 
and  vice  versa.  Whether  strictly  personal  ends  are  sought  in  bodily 
comfort  or  social  ends  in  community  service,  the  attainment  of  each 
should  require  both  aggressive  action  and  deference  to  social  sanc- 
tions. Otherwise  the  response  is  determined  largely  by  the  immediate 
situation  and  behavior  becomes  aimless.  By  the  fullest  expres- 
sion of  both  attitudes  in  each  situation,  the  whole  of  experience  is 
coordinated  and  directed  toward  certain  ends  more  or  less  remote. 
Hence  it  follows  that  the  more  remote  the  end,  the  longer  becomes 
the  series  of  situations  through  which  interest  is  progressively  trans- 
ferred and  the  more  completely  is  this  interest  adjusted  to  reality. 

Otherwise  stated,  the  last  of  the  five  attainments  proposed  involves 
an  operation  by  which  interest  is  transferred  from  one  to  as  many 
situations  as  possible.  Hence  the  process  consists  in  the  formation 
of  ideals.  In  no  other  educational  product  is  this  phenomenon  of 
transfer  clearly  apparent.1  In  solving  a  problem  in  arithmetic,  in 
kicking  a  field  goal,  or  in  satisfying  an  importunate  friend  interest 
may  well  be  confined  to  the  immediate  occasion.  Yet  when  such 
interest  seeks  the  remote  ends  of  scholarship,  sportsmanship,  or 
generosity,  its  expression  is  involved  in  a  number  of  situations  that 
are  normally  distributed  with  regard  to  resistance  offered.  The 
ideal  of  school  popularity  may  well  include  three.  Hence  an 
end  remote  enough  to  constitute  an  ideal  is  best  approached  by 
activity  which  expresses  both  extrinsic  and  intrinsic  interests  in  various 
situations.  The  expression  of  both  may  be  regulated  by  increasing 
or  decreasing  the  difficulty  of  the  pupil's  problems  in  such  manner 
as  to  assist  the  natural  process  of  compensation.  The  easy  problem 
fosters  aggressive  interest  and  sustains  the  more  remote  realization. 
The  difficult  problem  fosters  adaptive  interests  and  demands  closer 
contact  with  reality.  On  this  account  the  diffidence  of  the  pupil  too 
guarded  in  his  replies  should  be  overcome  by  such  success  as  will 
increase  his  social  status.  The  assurance  of  the  excessively  "origi- 
nal" pupil  should  be  met  by  such  failure  as  will  compel  a  wider  grasp 

1  cf.  Ruediger,  Prin.  of  Educ.,  pp.  112ff. 


60  An  Approach  to  the  Synthetic 

of  reality.  Since  the  mass  of  the  school  population  distributed 
between  these  extremes  is  composed  of  individuals  requiring  adjust- 
ment on  one  side  or  the  other  or  on  both,  the  operation  can  be  stand- 
ardized only  in  so  far  as  the  degree  of  adjustment  is  approximately 
the  same  for  different  individuals  at  various  stages  of  development. 

While  the  sequence  of  these  theoretical  attainments  and  of  the 
operations  leading  to  each  is  intended  to  follow  the  course  of  normal 
genetic  development,  it  is  obvious  that  such  uniform  progress  along 
varied  lines  of  experience  is  conceivable  only  in  theory.  As  applied 
to  the  individual  pupil,  the  processes  here  related  to  sucessive  attain- 
ments must  occur  simultaneously  as  different  attainments  are 
reached  in  various  fields  of  endeavor.  Yet  even  in  maturity  the 
development  of  interest  in  a  new  field  proceeds  from  the  specific 
situation  to  the  whole  of  experience,  which  may  justify  the  theoretical 
sequence  to  some  degree. 

The  hope  for  standard  methods  of  directing  behavior  to  the  most 
useful  development  of  individual  differences,  depends  for  fulfilment 
upon  quantitative  description.  While  as  yet  few  if  any  " absolute" 
differences  have  been  adequately  described  in  quantitative  terms, 
it  is  too  soon  to  predict  that  correlations  between  absolute  and  relative 
differences  may  not  in  time  be  established  which  will  define  the  latter 
more  precisely.  Progress  is  most  tangible  within  the  field  of  quanti- 
tative experiment.  Qualitative  analysis,  by  reason  of  the  personal 
equation  and  the  number  of  variables  involved,  is  ever  open  to  ques- 
tion. Yet  the  belief  is  legitimate  that  some  such  index  of  relative 
differences  as  may  be  afforded  by  a  synthetic  study  of  interest  may 
hasten  the  convergence  of  the  two  methods  of  approach.  Such  study 
should  serve  both  to  stimulate  educational  research  by  the  contri- 
bution of  hopeful  theory  and  to  standardize  intelligent  practice  as 
such  theory  is  confirmed. 

Conclusions 

1.  The  genetic  development  of  interest  as  observable  in  groups 
provides  a  basis  for  standard  principles  of  educational  method.  When 
applied  to  the  results  of  individual  diagnosis,  these  principles  effect 
a  useful  compromise  between  traditional  methods  based  on  theore- 
tical analysis  of  socially  useful  knowledge  and  experimental  methods 
based  on  the  pupil's  preferences  or  other  superficial  analysis  of  behavior. 

2.  Such  principles  are  useful  in  selecting  cumulative  teaching 
situations  or  the  course  of  study  in  so  far  as  typical  affective  reactions 


Study  of  Interest  in  Education  61 

to  particular  qualities  of  a  given  situation  are  identified  with  the  pupil's 
progressive  attainments  in  ideas,  skills,  habits,  etc.  These  situations 
may  be  standardized  to  the  degree  that  such  attainments  can  be 
precisely  described  in  terms  of  process. 

3.  Methods  of  motivating  the  learning  process  may  be  stand- 
ardized to  the  degree  in  which  the  typical  interests  of  various  pupils 
are  uniform  at  approximately  the  same  stage  of  development.  Such 
uniformity  may  be  assisted  by  controlling  environmental  conditions 
and  by  grouping  with  respect  to  abilities  determined  by  performance 
tests. 


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